The dreaded rosy apple aphid (dysaphis plantaginea) seems to be particularly ferocious this year. French apple and pear growers are doing their best to ward off attacks, but the French Apple Pear Association (ANPP) is already predicting lower yields for the coming season.
Pressure from aphids at its peak
"For the past fortnight, pressure from the rosy apple aphid has been at its highest in the orchards. However, arboriculturists have used all the control methods at their disposal: solutions approved for organic farming using mineral oils or biocontrol products at first, and then insecticides authorized for organic farming, such as neem oil," according to ANPP. Pressure is particularly intense this year due to climatic conditions (lack of cold during the winter, with currently hot and humid weather), combined with a reduction in active solutions. While virtually all production basins are affected, it is mainly the Center-Loire Valley, Sarthe, and Limousin (Vienne and Haute-Vienne) that are likely to be hit the hardest. Higher altitude areas are also affected, although to varying degrees.
Lower yields
Despite producers' best efforts, pressure from the pest is such that biocontrol solutions are inadequate. "The beneficial insects that are about to appear in the orchards as a result of favorable weather conditions - ladybirds, hoverflies, lacewings, and earwigs - will not have enough appetite to stop the invasion. In the final year, there will still be one or two applications of a synthetic insecticide after flowering, but that will be all." For the 2025 harvest, ANPP estimates a drop in orchard yield of -10 to -30% (the first European harvest forecasts will be presented at Prognosfruits from August 6th to 8th in Angers). "And by 2026, the trees, tired by this attack, will bear less fruit," according to ANPP.
Members of parliament expected in orchards before voting on the law at the end of May
The apple sector is worried because, unlike French producers, competing European producers have access, for at least another 8 seasons, to certain neonicotinoids which are used to combat the rosy apple aphid, such as acetamiprid." It was for this reason that the arboriculturists invited the MPs to come and see the situation in the orchards. "This is important because at the end of May, they will have to vote on a law* that will give French arboriculturists the same solutions as European producers, so that they can maintain production in France and continue to support the regions."
*The bill by senators Laurent Duplomb and Franck Menonville aimed at removing constraints on farming is due to be examined by the National Assembly at the end of May.
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