The Boerenbond Persprijs 2016-Masters has been awarded to Dieter Baets, for his article ‘Drosophila suzukii - a nightmare for many fruit growers’

Dieter Baets researched the control of the Asian Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) in cherry crops for his Master’s thesis. Together with the East Malling Research Station in Kent, England, he carried out field trials to examine the effectiveness of registered pesticides and a number of combinations of traps and pheromones. The results showed Biobest’s Droso Trap to be the best trap to monitor D. suzukii. Furthermore, the lure - Biobest Dros’Attract – achieved the highest scores. The final part of his Master’s thesis researched the development of a population model using climatological data to alert fruit growers to expect high pest pressure levels.

Last year, Dieter Baets obtained his Master’s Degree in Bioscience Agriculture and Horticulture at the Technology Campus of KU Leuven in Geel. His master’s thesis was rewarded with the Biobest prize as he had written the best thesis in the Bioscience education. Earlier this year at Agriflanders (the agricultural fair in Flanders), he received the Boerenbond Persprijs 2016 - Masters in recognition of his article ‘Drosophila suzukii - a nightmare for many fruit growers’, which applies to his research data providing proven advice for immediate use by fruit growers.

You can read the full Dutch article by clicking the following link: Drosophila suzukii, een nachtmerrie voor vele fruittelers