Nikoloz Meskhi’s normal day at the office involves leading efforts to control plant pests in the republic of Georgia.
At the moment, though, Meskhi is spending three months in Pennsylvania’s orchard country learning from U.S. researchers and farmers.
“For me it’s really very useful, and I am glad to be here. I am learning a lot,” said Meskhi, head of the Plant Protection Department at Georgia’s National Food Agency.
In his role — which also includes overseeing the registration of pesticides and fertilizer — Meskhi has played a key role in Georgia’s response to the brown marmorated stink bug.
The invasive insect, well known to U.S. growers, emerged as a major pest in Georgia in 2016.
Meskhi is visiting Pennsylvania on a Borlaug Fellowship, a USDA program that provides mentorship and collaboration from American researchers and ag officials to their counterparts in developing and middle-income countries.
The trip was delayed a few years because of the pandemic, but Meskhi finally arrived in the U.S. in mid-March, and he will stay until early June.
His host is Greg Krawczyk, a Penn State entomologist based at the Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville.
Krawczyk, who has studied the brown marmorated stink bug for years, is involving Meskhi in all activities in the lab and field. That includes assessment of an innovative new stink bug trap from Italy and research on local orchard pests such as the codling moth, oriental fruit moth and spotted lanternfly.
Meskhi has met fruit growers at twilight meetings around the state and has gotten to see how farmers, Extension and industry professionals work together to share knowledge.
“My goal was to basically, since he has 12 weeks, let him experience how our research program is working,” Krawczyk said.
The brown marmorated stink bug is native to East Asia, but it has been introduced across North America, Europe and Chile, according to a USDA and Rutgers study.
Among the affected countries is Georgia, a mountainous democracy that borders Russia and Turkey and is a bit smaller than Pennsylvania.
The stink bug damages a variety of crops. In Pennsylvania, tree fruits are among the most vulnerable.
In Georgia the worst damage has been in hazelnuts, an important export crop that many farmers rely on for their livelihood.
As part of his fellowship, Meskhi will visit researchers in Oregon, the U.S.’ main producer of hazelnuts.
When the stink bug emerged as a problem in Georgia, it all but destroyed the hazelnut crop in some places and wiped out farmers’ income. The pest also caused severe damage in some corn fields.
The Georgian government sought help from USDA and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which provided experts, pheromone monitoring traps and equipment. Other countries and several businesses have also assisted.
As part of the U.S. effort, Krawczyk has taken almost a dozen trips to Georgia. His recommendations helped Meskhi and his team develop Georgia’s stink bug control program.
Georgia also undertook a public awareness campaign through TV, brochures and social media to make sure its citizens knew what to do about the pest.
Georgia has large farm operations, including some connected to Ferrero International, the maker of Nutella hazelnut spread.
But most of the nation’s farmers have very small acreage. One-acre properties are not uncommon.
Source: lancasterfarming.com
Categories: Pennsylvania, Crops, Fruits and Vegetables, Equipment & Machinery, Government & Policy