California winegrowers face European gravevine moth threat
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Adult European grapevine moth. Photo: Chilean Wine Corporation A.G.
We all know certain moths love to munch on sweaters, and then there’s the European grapevine moth with a huge appetite for wine grapes that has the potential to devastate crops in the San Joaquin Valley, which is the core of California’s farm land. Growers are declaring a preemptive war against the invaders that were unknown in the area until last week when three moths were trapped, said local, state and federal agricultural officials. The San Joaquin Valley in Fresno County in Central California is the nation’s largest producer of wine, table and juice grapes and raisins, with 80 percent of the raisins exported all over the world. Therefore, dealing with the possibility that if the moths get a winghold they can wreak havoc with grape crops now and for years to come, destroying a $725 million-a-year industry, the triple threat of agencies joined forces to eradicate the problem by taking immediate action.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News: “More than 80 square miles around the area where the moths were found are under quarantine, meaning growers face heavy regulations on how to handle their crops and equipment. Chemical treatment is slated to begin next week.” If contending with existing farm pests, such as the Mediterranean fruit fly, the light brown apple moth and the Asian citrus psyllid, weren’t bad enough, the new threat of infestation by the European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana) is going to cost farmers time, trouble and money to fight. Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Nissei Farmers League, explained it this way, “The farmers work all year for this crop and now you can't harvest the crop, or you can harvest, but the buyers don't want it. How do they pay their loans, how do they pay the bank - all of these things become a huge burden on the farmers." There will be a quarantine, meaning truckloads of fruit will have to be washed along with tractors, mechanical harvesters and fruit bins before transport. It also means mandatory inspections of fields, packing houses and processing plants. Not even the seeds and skins that are left over after grapes are crushed are exempt, and have to be disposed of at a proper facility. Spraying for the pests will also cost growers and tax payers: “The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture this week committed $1 million to the effort, on top of $1.7 million already allocated to fight the moth in California - but those funds mostly are going toward trapping the moths.”
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The European Grapevine Moth looks like it may be a legitimate pest. But having CDFA, be the agency that is leading its management, is very unsettling. The agency that "Cried wolf" over the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) is now doing a similar program for a moth that may be legitimate, but the millions of people who have lost trust in the CDFA are now suspicious about anything CDFA does.
The Light Brown Apple Moth program was a fraud, simply to bring approximately $100 Million EVERY YEAR to the CDFA budget. Then those taxpayer funds were to be distributed to large privileged insider chemical companies for unnecessary pesticide contracts, and NOTHING FOR FARMERS.
The CDFA falsely reported crop damage by LBAM over three years. The media reported these false claims and farmers throughout the state, particularly in the central valley with no LBAM experience, believed it. Farmers with LBAM in their fields realized that LBAM was no more of a problem than a breeze through your hair, but that CDFA was truly a problem with their unnecessary quarantines, inspections and other forced pesticide applications that CDFA made the farmer pay for.
If the many false reports of LBAM damage still have you believing it, check with the Agriculture commissioner offices in the counties CDFA reported damage and you will find that the reports were false, that there is NO Documentation of LBAM damage in any county in California. "No damage from LBAM" is also stated in CDFA's Environmental Impact Report, but that is 3,000 pages long and few have seen it. If interested, you will find it in Chapter #3, page 3-20 lines 6,7 and page 3-21 lines 3,4 below table 3-16 in the Draft CDFA LBAM Eradication Program EIR.
A.G. Kawamura has been the Secretary of the CDFA throughout the LBAM program fraud. Kawamura was the initial promoter and spokesman on the program up to his being caught lying about a number of things regarding LBAM.
Kawamura should resign or be fired and be brought up on charges for abuse of public funds. The decent people working for the CDFA do not deserve to be mistrusted and despised because of Kawamura's lies and the sleazy manor in which he has lead the CDFA.
There are unanswered questions how this European Moth arrived in Fresno. Whether or not Kawamura has brought this European Moth to Fresno intentionally for more $ millions for contracts for privileged insiders as some people now think, he has lost the trust of the public and he cannot effectively lead the CDFA. Kawamura must resign or be removed. Real people, real farmers are suffering and the numbers are increasing and have now reached the Central Valley.
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