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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Commodity Protection and Quality Research » Research » Research Project #429256
Research Project: The Postharvest Treatment of California Blueberries to Eliminate Key Insect Pests

Location: Commodity Protection and Quality Research

Project Number: 2034-43000-040-016-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Aug 1, 2014
End Date: Jul 31, 2019

Objective:
Evaluate the impact on fruit quality of postharvest methyl bromide and phosphine fumigations to eliminate spotted wing drosophila (SWD) and brown marmorated sting bug (BMSB) from California blueberries.

Approach:
USDA-ARS will work with industry to transfer results of this research into increased trade opportunities for California-grown blueberries. USDA-ARS will conduct research to define effective cold treatment, phosphine, and methyl bromide fumigations for the control of key blueberry pests. A fruit quality evaluation will also be performed to identify any phytotoxicity that may occur from the fumigations and/or cold treatments.