Napa Wine country Volunteers to Test New Apple Moth Study

 There are many wine enthusiats and wine country travellers who are on edge due to the appearance of the Light Brown Apple Moth in Napa county.  Luckily there are several experimental erradication projects taking place as part of a wider Napa County pest population control procedure.  This new environmentally friendly tool may be the key for fighting the plague of the light brown apple moth in Napa county as well as the state.  The apple moths were first seen in Napa last year and have currently infested over 13 other California counties.  The initial test may take place in Napa county early this summer and depending on test tesults, may spread to other counties as early as next fall.

Wine country is thought to be a good test region because of crop uniformity and the supportive cooperation of the wine industry to develop a control method with as little impact on the environment as possible.  But with this first batch of testing comes a few questions from the USDA concerning the health of the sterile insect in the environment, the length of travel of the insect and the best method for release.  Due to the overwhelming support within the wine industry the USDA has been able to closely coordinate between agricultural officials and property owners to better answer these questions.

Not all property owners in Napa County agree about the new erradication test methods, but there is one thing that they do agree about, and that is the need to prevent an insect infestation within the county.  An alternative procedure needs to be created in order to bypass the public outcry seen in Monterey due to erradication methods such as pheromone spraying.  Let's hope that cooperation and support from both the USDA and the wine country propery owners bring about a solution to this problem.