Spotted wing drosophila infestation of California strawberries and raspberries: economic analysis of potential revenue losses and control costs

Abstract

Background: Economic costs of spotted wing drosophila (SWD) include yield and associated revenue losses, labor and material costs for monitoring and management and revenue losses due to the closure of export markets should fruit from SWD-infested regions be banned by trading partners. This analysis focuses on two types of loss in the California raspberry and strawberry industries: yield losses in the absence of management, and insecticide material costs on a per treatment basis. It computes the cost of a specific management program for raspberries in California's Central Coast region.

Results: Insecticide material and application costs per treatment and the cost of the management program are small relative to the yield losses in the absence of management that are observed by growers, researchers and others in initial infestations.

Conclusion: It is difficult to evaluate precisely the share of pest management program costs due to SWD because insecticides are sometimes used to manage multiple pests, and because labor-intensive field sanitation efforts to control SWD are recommended practices already. Given these considerations, this analysis finds that the benefits to SWD management well outweigh the costs examined here. Evaluating the efficacy of managing SWD is essential in assessing the risks that SWD poses and the benefits of pest management programs.