Innovative Push-Pull Control of Spotted Wing Drosophila, an Invasive Pest of Fruit Crops (SWDP-P)

UK berry production contributed £629M to the economy in 2021, increasing income by a third within 10 years. Berry production is also essential for human health as high-value and high-quality fruits provide a range of antioxidants, vitamins and fibre. However, berry production faces challenges in production related to a range of emerging and increasing pests and diseases. The global soft fruit industry suffers significant crop losses from an invasive fruit fly, spotted wing drosophila (SWD). SWD lays eggs in fruit before it is harvested, causing up to 80% crop loss. The potential market in the UK, Europe and USA for SWD control is £11bn. High value crops like strawberry, cherries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, are reliant on chemical insecticides to protect them from SWD.

In previous work, we have already identified a candidate repellent for SWD and a trapping system to remove SWD from fruit crops. In this project we will test a combination of these two approaches in a 'push-pull' strategy; 'pushing' SWD out of the crop and 'pulling' it away from the crop to reduce direct damage to fruits before they are harvested. Our approach is a more targeted and less environmentally damaging method to SWD control. We will first test our push-pull system with two major English fruit growers in commercial strawberry crops and we will begin to test on crops even more attractive to SWD, like raspberry. Reduction in fruit damage by SWD will be quantified and effects on beneficial insects minimised. In parallel work, novel biodegradable formulations of the repellent will be developed, lures in the traps further improved and deployment patterns for both repellent and traps optimised.

This push-pull strategy will be a first for this global pest and enable fruit growers to improve productivity cost-effectively and sustainably by reducing insecticide applications and residues in saleable fruit, reducing labour inputs, and contributing to the progression to net zero. The project will be led by Russell IPM, the UK's largest producer of biorational approaches to control of pests and diseases who will exploit this potentially game-changing solution to SWD. Two major English growers, Rumwood Green Farms Ltd. and WB Chambers and Son, will provide facilities and labour for carrying out field trials. Academic partners are NIAB who are world leaders in applied SWD research, and NRI, University of Greenwich, will work with Russell to develop new attractants and repellent formulations.