The South African citrus mealybug is a pest that is severely affecting Spanish citrus crops. Therefore, from EDYPRO We are interested in informing our clients about the tools they can use to combat it and how we can collaborate in this fight with our biotechnological solutions.

On some of our friend José Rivera's farms, mealybugs have been causing serious damage to the crops. To put an end to this problem, he has been working with [unclear - possibly "other professionals" or "other professionals"] since last year. Koppert and its biological control solutions.

Last Thursday, April 29, we brought together a group of our clients from the citrus sector who are also affected by this pest and traveled to Torres Torres, to Rivera's farms, to learn firsthand how physical and biological solutions work.

In José Rivera's crops, Koppert It is fighting the South African cottony cushion scale from two flanks: on one side, through a physical barrier, Pegafit. This is a paste applied to the tree trunk that prevents the insect from moving between the ground and the branches, and vice versa, as well as from the fruit to the soil. Additionally, sachets containing the mealybug's natural predator have been placed in the ground. Cryptolaemus Montrozieri to test its effectiveness in controlling the pest.

The results they have obtained are very promising. When these experiments began in the middle of last summer, the damage to the unharvested fruit on the affected trees dated back to the previous year. These solutions have significantly reduced the pest population to almost nothing and eliminated it from the tree. This means that the next harvest will produce clean fruit, free of blemishes and deformities.

To prevent the infestation from spreading to other farms that have not yet been affected, these solutions have been applied as a preventative measure. For now, thanks to these precautions, the trees are clean and free of the pest.

In view of the success of this control method, Serviagro Rivera SL. implemented the Pegafit application service in all the fields it manages. 

From EDYPRO We have recommended complementing all these actions with a biotechnology-based strategy. Our products and solutions strengthen the trees' immune system, making them more resistant to potential external agents.