Strawberry Industry at a Crossroads
Local inspectors warn that an invasive root weevil threatens to wipe out Kennewick’s strawberry patches unless growers act immediately.
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District Horticultural Inspector Luke Powell and Manager H. W. Desgranges of the Kennewick-Richland Fruitgrowers' Association have launched an urgent campaign to combat the spread of the strawberry root weevil. Desgranges warns that the pest is a serious menace and if the industry is to survive, it must be stamped out before it spreads further. After visiting the Milton-Freewater district, where the pest decimated production, experts suggest the only known remedy is to plow up the infested patches immediately. The weevil spreads through crawling or floating in irrigation water, and experts caution that the greatest danger for further infection comes from transplanting plants from infested beds.
“Lasting only takes this pest two years to totally destroy a patch. They do not take half-way measures and half-way measures will not destroy them.”
Agricultural management remains a primary concern for the Tri-Cities. Just as growers in 1915 faced the existential threat of the root weevil, modern farmers continue to navigate the precarious balance of biosecurity and environmental management in the Columbia Basin.
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