Strawberry Fields Forever? Not Without Fungicides International Pesticide Benefits Case Study No. 89, September 2013

Strawberry cultivation in the UK expanded in the late 1800s and by 1924 reached 13000 ha. While the area today (5000 ha) is just a third of the 1924 area, strawberry production has more than doubled due to yield per ha increasing 5-6-fold from below 5 tonnes/ha to 25 tonnes/ha. Strawberry production in the UK totals 106,000 tonnes with a value of nearly £300 million. The increase in UK production has made it possible for the UK to regain a major share of its self-sufficiency. Foreign grown strawberries in 1997-98 overtook home production. As of 2009, home grown production outstripped imports by 3:1. In the early 1900s, fungal diseases were widespread in strawberry cultivation. Strawberry cultivation was risky due to the potential losses to disease. The lack of effective disease control made disease incidence highly susceptible to weather conditions [1]. Botrytis (or grey mould) and powdery mildew are the most important aerial diseases in the UK. Botrytis is caused by a fungus that attacks all above ground parts of the strawberry plant, but is most important as a fruit rot which develops rapidly as the fruit ripens. Botrytis appears in the field when there is a persistent wetness in the crop (as is all too common in the UK at midsummer). Growers have reported that supermarkets turn away a whole lorry-loa