The application was made by HortNZ on behalf of industry groups including Potatoes New Zealand, Tomatoes NZ, Vegetables New Zealand, the NZ Tamarillo Growers Association and Heinz-Wattie's NZ
The psyllid has caused enormous problems for potato, tomato, capsicum and tamarillo growers in New Zealand since it was discovered in 2006.
Potatoes New Zealand chief executive Chris Claridge said the wasp should help growers.
"But it early days yet. We know it'll be useful, but biological agents such as this, can take time."
Market Access Solution Vegetable Research and Innovation co-ordinator, Sally Anderson, said horticultural industry groups that supported the biological control application would initially like to do small scale field releases into potato crops.
She said the industry groups had a three year funding from the Ministry for Primary Industry's Sustainable Farming Fund to carry out the releases and follow-up monitoring to understand how the small wasp survived in a New Zealand cropping environment.
"In the longer-term, Tamarixia will be raised by commercial operators for release. The preferred option for using Tamarixia in New Zealand is to release it into areas where potato, outdoor tomato, and tamarillo are growing. We hope it will establish in these areas and provide ongoing control of [the psyllid] by reducing the numbers of tomato potato psyllid that survive the winter and fly into crops."
Source - http://www.freshplaza.com
