Cornell Team Fights Invasive Pest, Supports NY Berry Industry
August 08, 2019
August 08, 2019
ITHACA, New York, Aug. 8 -- Cornell University issued the following news:
Dale Ila Riggs knew the pests were coming for her berries. It was summer 2012, and Riggs watched as the invasive spotted wing Drosophila, a type of fruit fly, descended on The Berry Patch, her 230-acre farm in eastern New York near the Massachusetts border.
"We lost 40% of our blueberry crop that year to the insects," said Riggs, who has farmed her Rensselaer County berry fields for 23 y . . .
Dale Ila Riggs knew the pests were coming for her berries. It was summer 2012, and Riggs watched as the invasive spotted wing Drosophila, a type of fruit fly, descended on The Berry Patch, her 230-acre farm in eastern New York near the Massachusetts border.
"We lost 40% of our blueberry crop that year to the insects," said Riggs, who has farmed her Rensselaer County berry fields for 23 y . . .