UF Study Gives Strawberry Growers a Ray of (UV) Light at the End of Their Pest Tunnel

Michelle Alvarez at news.wgcu.org reports researchers with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are trying to reduce pests and diseases for Florida’s $300 million-a-year strawberry industry. Plant pathologist Natalia Pres has been using an ultraviolet light system for a few years now that prevents strawberry pathogens like powdery mildew, but fellow UF researchers are focused on whether that UVC radiation can also control plant pests like mites and thrips. They first examined to see if the ultraviolet light would kill the mites that eat and infest strawberries, and found that the eggs, just like those…