Pest prevention better than cure

Be it a blowfly at a family barbecue or a codling moth in a consignment of apples, it only takes one to spoil the party.

Peter Visser knows that well enough. After an early career with the Department of Conservation and then 18 years in the horticulture industry, including orchard management, Peter brings decades of experience to his role at pest control company Key Industries. The damage is easy to see when pests such as rabbits or aphids take hold in pasture or brassica crops. Or when opening the pantry door produces a skitter-skitter of tiny feet into the shadows. The numbers don’t have to be big though – a single codling moth in an apple consignment to a country with zero tolerance for the pest comes at huge financial cost yet the source orchard may have only a small population. Peter is Territory Manager South Island, Key Account and Technical Manager for Key Industries, which provides conservation, agricultural, horticultural, DIY and professional pest control products. We’ve dodged some bullets over the years, he agrees. MPI’s biosecurity team is on constant alert for threats to our primary industries as well as our environment. Many pests have been intercepted either by pheromone traps or through public tip-offs. These include fruit flies, Painted Apple Moth, Gum Leaf Skeletoniser, Marmorated Stinkbug and various ant species. The list of what has made its way to our shores is long. Rabbits, stoats, cats, deer, possums and ferrets were introduced intentionally by humans. Insects and birds have arrived on strong prevailing winds from Australia. Then there are the trade stowaways such as rats, mice, Argentine ants, German and Common wasps, etc. Each introduced pest costs New Zealand millions of dollars a year either in control costs or its effect on primary production or the environment. Whether it’s keeping household insects at bay or protecting valuable crops, Peter’s advice is the same – prevention is better than cure. By the time a pest population is announcing itself, its effect on your lifestyle or livelihood will likely already be significant. A preventative control programme ensures insect and animal numbers never escalate out of control. Some methods require the strategic use of insecticides or baits while others use

Each introduced pest costs New Zealand millions of dollars a year.”

non-chemical approaches such as lures for wasps, fly bags or kill traps for animal pests. Monitoring population numbers gives valuable information that can be worked into the management plan. Visual surveillance, pheromone traps, chew cards or ink pads will guide you on just how big the problem is and where best to place the traps or treatment. Peter hears the frustration in people’s voices sometimes when they accept defeat and call in the professionals. He gets the odd chuckle too – like the time a lifestyle block owner phoned for advice. He had gone to the trouble and expense of rabbit-proof fencing his entire boundary but was still getting rabbits – they were even on the increase, he told Peter. Digging deeper, Peter asked what had been done to rabbit-proof the property’s entranceways? Yes, he explained, they will need to be rabbitproofed as well. Looking to the future of pest control, Peter sees increasing use of technology. Data gathering is changing rapidly. Automated systems using motion sensors are already in the field and using genome technology across a range of pests is well on the way to reality. In the never-ending war against household and industry pests, it seems the best attack is resolute defence.

| A single codling moth in an export consignment of apples comes at huge cost.

PETER’S TOP TIPS

Prevention

A programmed, regular approach to pest control will keep populations low.

Surveillance

Regularly check your house or property for pest damage or changes in population levels.

Expertise

Use a professional pest controller or agronomist if you are unsure about control requirements or strategies.