Last year, as the National Association ‘Raspberry of Kosovo’, we had engaged 10 agronomists for advisory purposes, among them was the new agronomist Viola Xhemajli. Her task was to monitor and detect one of the most damaging insects to many agricultural crops in the world, including raspberries, which attack ripe fruit. Viola has detection the presence of Drosophila suzukii in raspberry fruits in Kosovo in three municipalities: Podujevo, Pristina, and Shtërpcë.
Considering that Kosovo is not a member of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO), as the National Association ‘Mjedra e Kosovës/Raspberry of Kosovo’, we have worked and reported for the first time in this direction that this destructive insect is present in Kosovo, as it is almost in all other countries, which, compared to our country, work very hard to advance technologies for combating this pest.
Viola presented at the 8th Raspberry Conference in Pristina in December 2023 on the insect Drosophila suzukii and its presence in our country. Those interested in more information about the insect can see her presentation at this link: 3 h 52 min, 55 sec. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USvAAAd3-0s.
During these days, she has written an article for Agroportal, where she currently works, on this issue, which you can read at this link: https://agroportal-ks.com/paraqitja-e-demtuesve-te-ri-invaziv-ne-kosove-a-do-te-kete-pasoja-ekonomike/?fbclid=IwAR1zT9L7P3L74EJO9fyb_gePVbFw1PANV3nTo4-gcvo3Jx0Q2EPRrbdY2-M
As the National Association ‘Raspberry of Kosovo’, during 2024 we will have activities for monitoring, detection, but also information on preventive measures against this insect in blueberry value chain.
