Given the increasing incidence of the almond seed wasp (Eurytoma amygdali), the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has temporarily authorized the marketing and use of plant protection products based on tau-fluvalinate 24% [EW] w/v. This measure benefits producers in Castilla-La Mancha, the Region of Murcia, Aragon, Catalonia, Andalusia, and the Valencian Community.
The urgency of this resolution lies in the biological behavior of the pest, whose incidence has increased alarmingly in recent years.
It is worth noting that the insect’s life cycle largely takes place protected inside the fruit, which makes treatments not specifically targeting the adult population extremely difficult. Females lay their eggs in newly formed fruits between March and April, and the larvae feed on the seed, leaving the fruit empty and compromising the following spring’s production. Without effective control measures, this insect can cause yield losses of up to 90% of the total harvest.
The authorization period is from March 19 to June 14, 2026. Although the authorization was initially managed for Castilla-La Mancha, the ministry later modified the resolution to also include the Region of Murcia, Aragon, Catalonia, Andalusia, and the Valencian Community, under the same technical conditions and dates.
The ministry’s resolution defines that treatment must be carried out by foliar spraying; furthermore, it allows a maximum of two applications per cycle with a fourteen-day interval between them. The maximum authorized dose has been set at 0.4 liters per hectare, with a safety period of two weeks before harvest.
