Keeping invasive insects at bay

Featuring an array of delicious fruit from peaches to cherries, stone fruit is attractive to a variety of bugs that can be effectively controlled with integrated pest management, writes Zunel van Eeden.

- Zunel van Eeden

Stone fruit production is a vital component of South Africa’s agricultural landscape and features a diverse array of fruits, including peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines and cherries.

Today, the country produces around 350,000t of stone fruit annually.

This sector plays a crucial role in local and international markets. The production of this fruit is heavily influenced by the country’s climate, with the Western Cape emerging as the primary growing region due to its ideal conditions.

The province’s temperate climate provides the essential chilling hours required for stone fruit to bloom and set fruit.

PEST MANAGEMENT

Despite the sector’s success, insect pests continue to affect production, impacting the yield and quality of South Africa’s stone fruit. For many stone fruit producers, chemical control is often the primary defence strategy when dealing with pests due to its immediacy and effectiveness in reducing pest populations. However, this approach can have negative repercussions, such as the development of pest resistance, potential harm to non-target organisms, and environmental contamination.

Given these drawbacks, producers are encouraged to explore alternative pest management strategies, such as incorporating biological control methods into an integrated pest management (IPM) system.

FAST FACTS

• The Western Cape is the primary growing region for stone fruit due to its ideal climate.

• Various insect pests threaten stone fruit production throughout the development stages of the fruit.

• Biological control, using agents like predatory mites, parasitoid wasps and entomopathogenic nematodes, can be as effective as chemical control in managing pests in stone fruit production.