A tiny bug could destroy Michigan's $54 million cherry industry — and scientists know relatively little about it
Denis Balibouse/Reuters
- A tiny fruit fly is posing a major threat to Michigan's cherry industry — and to other fruit farms around the world.
- Michigan produces 75% of tart cherry production in the US, but in 2016, flies destroyed around 21% of the state's cherry crops.
- Researchers are exploring a new breed of the cherry tree that would mature earlier in the season and avoid the brunt of the pest altogether.
Last December, in an upstairs room at Michigan's DeVos Place Convention Center, men in collared button-ups, hoodies, and heavy coats looked expectantly up at the stage. They had gathered in Grand Rapids for the Great Lakes Expo, an annual conference attracting fruit and vegetable growers from around the region. It's the largest show of its kind in the country, attracting some 4,000 people from 40 states and seven Canadian provinces. There were more than 450 exhibitors in the trade show outside the conference room, but these folks had convened at 9 a.m. on a Wednesday morning to learn about spotted wing drosophila, or SWD, an invasive vinegar fly smaller than your pinky fingernail that is wreaking havoc on healthy, ripening fruit around the world.
Larry Gut, an entomology professor at Michigan State University (MSU), ambled onto the small stage. His presentation was displayed on the screen over his shoulder. After giving an overview of the threat, he then presented the audience of farmers with different suggestions for how to control SWD: don't start spraying insecticide too early in the season; alternate insecticides to avoid creating resistance; Mustang Max, Warrior II, and Imidan have worked well.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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