Invasive apple moth in Northern California could hurt many commodities
Invasive apple moth in Northern California could hurt many commodities
Nothing quite like the light brown apple moth has ever been found in California before, nor was its arrival from other countries where it is native or established considered likely, so the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Food & Agriculture are up against a steep learning curve in dealing with recent finds of the insect in the San Francisco Bay area.
So far, all finds of the moth, known as LBAM, have been in urban areas. Commercial orchards have not yet been affected. But major hosts of the insect include numerous important California fruit crops such as peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, apples, pears, grapes, cherries and citrus.
"The pest destroys, stunts or deforms young seedlings ... and injures deciduous fruit-tree crops, citrus and grapes," stated a March 22 press release from USDA. "LBAM has the potential to cause significant economic losses due to increased production costs and the possible loss of international and domestic markets."
A March 28 press release from CDFA stated that the department "has established an interim regulatory action to try to halt the spread" of the insect. The interim action, which is directed at wholesale and retail nurseries plus community and school gardens, "will remain in place until CDFA, the USDA and agricultural commissioners ... establish a quarantine for the pest. The moth is native to Australia and is established in New Zealand, Hawaii and the United Kingdom.
The first detection of the apple moth in the area was made Feb. 27. "Since then, more than 30 have been detected in the communities of Alameda, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito and Richmond," all in the East Bay, according to the CDFA release.
However, Steve Lyle, CDFA director of public affairs, told The Produce News subsequent to the issuance of the release that 16 additional finds of the moth had been confirmed "across the bay" in the city of San Francisco.
"One of the challenges here is we have not ever had this pest before," he said. "If it was a fruitfly, we've been fighting fruit flies for 40 years and we know what step to take and when to take that step. Here, we've got a steep learning curve."
Larry Hawkins, a Sacramento, CA-based public affairs specialist for USDA's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, told The Produce News March 28 that the current focus is on doing "delimitation trapping" to determine the extent of the infestation. "We are trying to provide some information to our technical working group so that they can make recommendations to us on what actions are appropriate."
Eradicating the pest "would be our goal if that is possible," he added. "That is going to depend on how widespread the pest is already." There is "absolutely a sense of urgency." The insect "is not a fruit feeder, but the larvae attack the leaves of the plants, Mr. Hawkins said.
It is not known how the moth entered California. A risk assessment study done by one university suggested that the pest's introduction to the United States "was considered to be pretty low risk," Mr. Hawkins said.
"It is another indication of the failure of our ag inspection program," said Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, who described the presence of the apple moth in California as "serious." It creates "potential marketing issues for us if it spreads," he said.
"It really indicates how important it is to try to prevent these invasive pests from getting in and ... getting established," said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League.
So far, all finds of the moth, known as LBAM, have been in urban areas. Commercial orchards have not yet been affected. But major hosts of the insect include numerous important California fruit crops such as peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, apples, pears, grapes, cherries and citrus.
"The pest destroys, stunts or deforms young seedlings ... and injures deciduous fruit-tree crops, citrus and grapes," stated a March 22 press release from USDA. "LBAM has the potential to cause significant economic losses due to increased production costs and the possible loss of international and domestic markets."
A March 28 press release from CDFA stated that the department "has established an interim regulatory action to try to halt the spread" of the insect. The interim action, which is directed at wholesale and retail nurseries plus community and school gardens, "will remain in place until CDFA, the USDA and agricultural commissioners ... establish a quarantine for the pest. The moth is native to Australia and is established in New Zealand, Hawaii and the United Kingdom.
The first detection of the apple moth in the area was made Feb. 27. "Since then, more than 30 have been detected in the communities of Alameda, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito and Richmond," all in the East Bay, according to the CDFA release.
However, Steve Lyle, CDFA director of public affairs, told The Produce News subsequent to the issuance of the release that 16 additional finds of the moth had been confirmed "across the bay" in the city of San Francisco.
"One of the challenges here is we have not ever had this pest before," he said. "If it was a fruitfly, we've been fighting fruit flies for 40 years and we know what step to take and when to take that step. Here, we've got a steep learning curve."
Larry Hawkins, a Sacramento, CA-based public affairs specialist for USDA's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, told The Produce News March 28 that the current focus is on doing "delimitation trapping" to determine the extent of the infestation. "We are trying to provide some information to our technical working group so that they can make recommendations to us on what actions are appropriate."
Eradicating the pest "would be our goal if that is possible," he added. "That is going to depend on how widespread the pest is already." There is "absolutely a sense of urgency." The insect "is not a fruit feeder, but the larvae attack the leaves of the plants, Mr. Hawkins said.
It is not known how the moth entered California. A risk assessment study done by one university suggested that the pest's introduction to the United States "was considered to be pretty low risk," Mr. Hawkins said.
"It is another indication of the failure of our ag inspection program," said Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, who described the presence of the apple moth in California as "serious." It creates "potential marketing issues for us if it spreads," he said.
"It really indicates how important it is to try to prevent these invasive pests from getting in and ... getting established," said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League.
