Posts Tagged: viticulture

Is *suitcase smuggling* to blame for new pest?

A few of California's top vintners admit to having smuggled grapevine cane cuttings into the United States to avoid a long wait for the plant to be cleared by USDA, according to an article that moved on the Associated Press wire over the weekend. The article was published in the Fresno Bee, the New York Times and other media outlets.

Some are wondering if what reporter Tracie Cone wrote is a "winked-at act of sneaking in vines" from Europe may have also imported the European grapevine moth, an Italian pest now threatening Napa vineyards.

The deputy agricultural commissioner for Napa County, Greg Clark, expressed his frustration with the practice of suitcase smuggling.

"There are people who continue to spin their tales of smuggled plant material," Clark was quoted. "People like a story with a glass of wine, and what that tends to do is legitimize behavior that not only threatens the industry, it's illegal. Knock it off."

Director of the UC Davis Foundation Plant Services, Deborah Golino, said some of the plant virus problems in Napa may also result from smuggling.

"The more we move plants around the world, the more chance there is of introducing problems," Golino was quoted.

Other theories about how the pest came to California are swirling around, the story said. In addition to the smuggled grapevine rumors, talk has centered around imported vineyard machinery or even deliberate introduction. Since the first detection of the pest was no where near a seaport, ag officials believe it unlikely the pest was transported on a container ship.

But UC Cooperative Extension viticulture farm advisor Monica Cooper said the moth's life cycle wouldn't be conducive to suitcase smuggling.

"I'm not saying that people don't still try to get suitcase wood in, but in this instance, I'm not sure the pest would be transported like that," Cooper was quoted.

More information and photos of the European grapevine moth are available on the UC Integrated Pest Management Web site.

European grapevine moth larva feeding on berries. (Photo: M. Cooper )

Sad coincidence in Napa viticulture

The St. Helena Star reported today on a sad coincidence for the Napa County viticulture industry. Within the last year, the three men who have held the position of Napa County UC Cooperative Extension viticulture advisor since 1952 passed away.

• Jim Lider, farm advisor from 1952 to 1972, died Nov. 19, 2007
• Keith Bowers, farm advisor from 1972 to 1987, died May 21, 2008
• Ed Weber, farm advisor from 1988 to 2007, died December 31, 2007.

The story focused on the most recent passing, that of Bowers last month. The article noted that Bowers was chosen Farm Advisor of the Year in 1984, when he also was named president of the California Association of Farm Advisors. He co-authored the “Outstanding Paper of the Year” in viticulture for the American Society of Enologists in 1978, with Lider and N. Ferrari.

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