Task force tackles light brown apple moth threat
Task force tackles light brown apple moth threat
The light brown apple moth is in the crosshairs of California officials ready to do battle with the pest.
While the moth currently appears to be a particular threat to nursery products, more than 200 plants are known to be hosts for the moth, including stone fruits, citrus, grapes, strawberries and flowers.
On May 18, the Light Brown Apple Moth Technical Working Group drew up draft recommendations to combat the threat. The final recommendations should be coming soon.
The group recommended eradicating the pest from California and the United States. The short-term strategy would be to delimit and contain the light brown apple moth population.
This will require ongoing monitoring of the infestation, suppression at the edges of the populations and population reduction in areas of higher-density populations.
The species, thought to be native to Australia, was first spotted and identified in the United States in the San Francisco Bay area in mid-March. It's since been detected in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.
In early May, a federal quarantine was enacted that restricted interstate movement of host material from these counties as well as Hawaii, where the pest was identified in the distant past. A few weeks ago, Mexico restricted shipments of some products known to be hosts from the quarantined areas. Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Eric Lauritzen said that Mexico's prohibition did not include strawberries.
As of May 3, 1,632 light brown apple moths had been found in the eight California counties. Of those moths, the vast majority was found in Santa Cruz County.
Mr. Lauritzen said that the moth is on the "edge of agricultural production" in Monterey County, spotted in the northern part of the county and in Prunedale at the northern edge of the Salinas Valley. Strawberries are one notable crop grown in that general area.
"The focus is on the nursery industry to limit the spread," Mr. Lauritzen said, adding that Canadian officials have visited the area with a primary concern for nursery stock, including cut flowers. Those officials have "also taken a look at strawberries," he said.
The people involved in the technical working group have years of experience in pest eradication, Mr. Lauritzen said.
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and state Rep. Jim Costa (D-20) have introduced legislation S. 949 and H.R. 667, respectively, called the Early Pest Detection & Surveillance Improvement Act, which provides clarification and continuing authority for the current framework for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to enter into cooperative funding agreements with states to enhance pest detection and surveillance programs to prevent the establishment or spread of plant pests that endanger agriculture, the environment and the economy of the United States.
While the moth currently appears to be a particular threat to nursery products, more than 200 plants are known to be hosts for the moth, including stone fruits, citrus, grapes, strawberries and flowers.
On May 18, the Light Brown Apple Moth Technical Working Group drew up draft recommendations to combat the threat. The final recommendations should be coming soon.
The group recommended eradicating the pest from California and the United States. The short-term strategy would be to delimit and contain the light brown apple moth population.
This will require ongoing monitoring of the infestation, suppression at the edges of the populations and population reduction in areas of higher-density populations.
The species, thought to be native to Australia, was first spotted and identified in the United States in the San Francisco Bay area in mid-March. It's since been detected in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.
In early May, a federal quarantine was enacted that restricted interstate movement of host material from these counties as well as Hawaii, where the pest was identified in the distant past. A few weeks ago, Mexico restricted shipments of some products known to be hosts from the quarantined areas. Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Eric Lauritzen said that Mexico's prohibition did not include strawberries.
As of May 3, 1,632 light brown apple moths had been found in the eight California counties. Of those moths, the vast majority was found in Santa Cruz County.
Mr. Lauritzen said that the moth is on the "edge of agricultural production" in Monterey County, spotted in the northern part of the county and in Prunedale at the northern edge of the Salinas Valley. Strawberries are one notable crop grown in that general area.
"The focus is on the nursery industry to limit the spread," Mr. Lauritzen said, adding that Canadian officials have visited the area with a primary concern for nursery stock, including cut flowers. Those officials have "also taken a look at strawberries," he said.
The people involved in the technical working group have years of experience in pest eradication, Mr. Lauritzen said.
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and state Rep. Jim Costa (D-20) have introduced legislation S. 949 and H.R. 667, respectively, called the Early Pest Detection & Surveillance Improvement Act, which provides clarification and continuing authority for the current framework for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to enter into cooperative funding agreements with states to enhance pest detection and surveillance programs to prevent the establishment or spread of plant pests that endanger agriculture, the environment and the economy of the United States.
