The Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) is the most destructive pest in agriculture today because of the negative impact it has on worldwide berry production. New management strategies must be developed since there are a limited number of biological tools available to manage the pest. This project will formulate multiple independent, but potentially synergistic, strategies by developing intercropping systems and documenting the safety and efficacy of two Asian parasitoids as biological control agents with the goal of supporting an application for their release in Canada. We are also looking to develop new microbial organic products and plant growth promoters that will boost crop resistance to the Spotted Wing Drosophila.
From 2018 to 2023
Project duration
Fruit production
Activity areas
Pest, weed, and disease control
Service
This project will allow us to develop new biological strategies to control Spotted Wing Drosophila.
Active AgriScience | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada | Association des producteurs de fraises et framboises du Québec | Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (UBC Farm) | Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension | Organic Science Cluster | Université de Montréal | University of New Brunswick
This project’s aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of HARVANTA® 50SL to control the cranberry weevil, the blackheaded fireworm and the cranberry fruitworm.
Researcher: Annabelle Firlej
Evaluate the toxicity of biological pesticides or repellents to control the spotted wing drosophila on everbearing raspberries grown in tunnels.
Researcher: Daniel Cormier
This project looks to incorporate the data for the recommended IFP berry products into the SAgE Pesticides database. The goal is to encourage farmers to adopt IFP and make it easier for them to access IFP data.
Researcher: Annabelle Firlej