European farmers faced a busy week of phytosanitary news, from cotton bollworm in Greece to late blight pressure in Belgium. The following overview distils the official or semi-official warnings issued between 22 July and 28 July 2025, translating local bulletins into practical, field-ready advice. Use it to fine-tune scouting schedules, adjust spray plans and keep crops on track through late summer.
Greece
1. Cotton: 1st Integrated Pest-Management Bulletin, Orestiada (Evros) — 25 July 2025
Crop & Stage
Cotton fields range from late flowering to about 50% boll set, with some variability caused by re-sowing after poor spring emergence.
Common Symptoms
- Low moth catches of cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) in pheromone traps so far, and only scattered small larvae on plants.
- Healthy predator complex—especially ladybirds—except where broad insecticide sprays were recently used.
Actions for Farmers
- Avoid practices that delay maturation, such as excessive late nitrogen.
- Monitor plant height closely and, if necessary, apply mepiquat chloride at the label rate to curb excess vegetative growth.
- Scout thoroughly and treat only when economic thresholds are met: four freshly hatched larvae (<1 cm) per 100 plants or one larva per 1.5 m of row in second-generation bollworm.
- Use registered insecticides and spare beneficials; keep spray records for at least three years as required by Greek law.
2. Field Pepper: Technical Warning for European Corn Borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) — 23 July 2025
Crop & Stage
Industrial peppers in the municipalities of Topeiros (Ávato, Dasochóri) are at fruit-fill; nearby maize acts as an alternate host.
Common Symptoms
- Second-generation corn-borer flight began in late June; trap counts rose noticeably after 20 July.
- Entry holes on fruit and fine frass at tunnel sites; premature colour change, fruit drop and secondary rots follow larval feeding.
Actions for Farmers
- Inspect pheromone traps weekly; treat once larvae are detected in fruit larger than half-size and only with approved products.
- Time sprays carefully, observing pre-harvest intervals; consult the national online pesticide database for up-to-date registrations.
- Maintain rigorous harvest hygiene and avoid unnecessary applications to protect natural enemies.
3. Grapevine: Vineyard Bulletin No. 17 (Crete) — 28 July 2025
Crop & Stage
Sultana and wine grapes show a one-week delay versus 2024.
- Early zones: berries nearing full ripeness (Baggiolini N / BBCH 85).
- Mid and late zones: berries from “hard green” to softening (Baggiolini M / BBCH 81).
Common Symptoms
- Third flight of grape berry moth (Lobesia botrana) still active in mid and late zones; falling in early zones.
- Powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator) risk persists on berries until véraison; foliage remains susceptible all season.
- Leafhopper populations locally high on vines with tender regrowth.
Actions for Farmers
- Apply targeted insecticides on the evening dates suggested for each viticultural zone; ensure thorough bunch coverage.
- Combine berry-moth sprays with sulphur or other approved fungicides against powdery mildew where symptoms appear.
- Monitor 100 leaves per block; intervene against leafhoppers when 50 – 100 apterous nymphs are found per 100 leaves, coordinating with moth treatments to minimise passes.
- Select short-residue products near harvest and strictly observe withholding periods, particularly for wine grapes after consultation with the receiving winery.
Spain
Alert: Downy-mildew in vineyards – 24 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Albariño vineyards at first berry colour.
Symptoms: Fresh downy-mildew oil spots and white sporulation after ≥10 mm rain; first bird pecks on sweeter clones.
Actions: Re-cover canopies within 48 h using systemic + copper; open the leaf wall; net early-ripening blocks where birds are persistent.
Alert: Caqui Mealybug Advisory, Valencia – 25 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Persimmon, fruit-sizing.
Symptoms: Colonies of long-tailed mealybug with honeydew and sooty mould.
Actions: Dusk scouting; release Cryptolaemus montrouzieri twice at 2,500 adults ha-¹ where predators are scarce; apply spirotetramat or mineral oil if >5% fruit infested.
France
Alert: BSV Maraîchage Midi-Pyrénées No 9 – 24 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Lettuce ready for harvest; onion at bulb-fill.
Symptoms: Active thrips flights and scattered Autographa larvae in lettuce; onion thrips hot-spots, downy-mildew risk currently low.
Actions: Overhead irrigate lettuce at dawn to dislodge thrips; spray spinosad if >3 larvae/plant; treat onions with abamectin or spinetoram once 5 thrips/leaf; reduce late nitrogen.
Alert: BSV Grandes Cultures Ouest Occitanie – 24 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Maize, 77% of fields at silking.
Symptoms: Peak flight of second-generation Mediterranean corn borer (Sesamia nonagrioides) and Ostrinia nubilalis; leafhopper feeding high.
Actions: Apply deltamethrin when trap catches exceed 20 males/trap/week or 5 egg-masses/100 plants; spray acetamiprid for leafhoppers when >30% leaves are scarred.
Italy
Alert: Powdery-mildew – 22 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Vines at pre-veraison (BBCH 79).
Symptoms: Expanding powdery-mildew lesions; renewed downy-mildew infection risk after storms; rising adults of leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus.
Actions: Tank-mix 6 kg ha-¹ wettable sulphur with QoI/SDHI; re-apply copper ≤48 h after any rain >10 mm; treat leafhoppers (acetamiprid/flupyradifurone) if >4 adults/trap.
Alert: Bologna-Ferrara – 23 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Field tomato, fruit-swell.
Symptoms: High but plateauing egg-lay of Tuta absoluta; bacterial soft-rot patches after heat spikes.
Actions: Alternate Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki with indoxacarb; switch to drip irrigation; remove rotted fruit daily; maintain N:K ≥1:1.5 to firm fruit skin.
Germany
Alert: Hop Peronospora – 28 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Hops, burr to cone-fill.
Symptoms: Zoosporangia only 0-2/48 h (threshold 8).
Actions: Hold fungicide for now; resume cover sprays if spore counts exceed 4 or rain imminent; continue lower-leaf stripping.
Alert: Ornamentals Warndienst Zierpflanzenbau – 22 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Greenhouse bedding plants, mixed stages.
Symptoms: Strong predator presence on aphids; continuous box-tree-moth flight; flea-beetle bites in Lobularia.
Actions: Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides; treat young box-moth larvae with B. thuringiensis; install yellow sticky boards for flea beetles.
Belgium (Flanders)
Alert: Viaverda Late-Blight Warning – 22 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Potato during tuber bulking.
Symptoms: High late-blight risk post-humid nights; early Alternaria lesions on ageing foliage.
Actions: Compress spray interval to five days: begin with mandipropamid + folpet, then rotate to mancozeb + amisulbrom; burn haulm early if lesions reach upper canopy.
Alert: FAVV Exotic Fruit-Fly – 24 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Stone and soft fruit at colour-break.
Symptoms: One adult Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) trapped in Molenbeek market.
Actions: Deploy 16 McPhail traps ha-¹ within 5 km; collect and destroy windfalls; report suspect larvae; avoid importing untreated fruit from infested zones.
Poland
Alert: Agrosimex Strawberry – 22 Jul 2025
Crop & Stage: Strawberry, post-harvest regrowth.
Symptoms: Mixed strawberry- and spider-mite colonies on fresh leaves; first powdery-mildew patches.
Actions: Treat right after mowing with propargite or fenpyroximate; follow with sulphur + copper (Nordox) to curb mildew and leaf-spot; foliar feed Ca 20 g L-¹ + K 10 g L-¹ to harden foliage.
Practical Take-Aways
Focus on Peak Flight Windows
Most bulletins coincided with second-generation flights of lepidopteran pests—cotton bollworm, corn borers, Tuta absoluta—making pheromone-trap data vital. Trap twice weekly and switch to larvicides within 48 hours of hitting thresholds.
Tighten Fungicide Intervals After Showers
Where ≥10 mm rain fell (Galicia, Occitanie, Emilia-Romagna, Flanders) experts recommended systemic + contact mixes within two days to shield soft tissue.
Keep Canopies Airy
Leaf-stripping in hops, ventilating vineyards and maintaining low lettuce density were repeatedly cited as cheap, chemistry-free ways to lower humidity and sap-sucker pressure.
Use Biological Options First
Italian tomato advisers led with B. thuringiensis; German ornamentals scouts promoted predators; Spanish caqui bulletins highlighted Cryptolaemus releases—evidence that bio-based first lines now dominate integrated schemes.
Sanitation Still Matters
Roguing bored peppers, binning rotten tomatoes, clipping potato haulm and removing honey-fungus stumps all featured as low-cost inoculum-reduction tactics.
Report and Contain Exotics
Belgium’s Oriental fruit-fly find and the UK’s Armillaria survey show regulators leaning on growers for early warning. Rapid containment of tiny foci saves vast eradication bills later.
Final Thoughts
Late July is Europe’s phytosanitary tipping point: pest cycles accelerate in the heat just as harvest still lies weeks away. Acting promptly on the week’s alerts—whether a bollworm spray in Thrace, a copper top-up in Galicia or an extra blight pass in Flanders—protects both yield and quality. Keep trap catches, weather data and official channels close at hand; summer’s next volley of warnings is never far away.
References
https://www.minagric.gr/images/stories/docs/nea/GEORGPROEIDOPOIHSEIS/HRAKLEIO/2025/ampeli_280725.pdf
https://www.minagric.gr/images/stories/docs/nea/GEORGPROEIDOPOIHSEIS/KABALA/2025/piperia_230725.pdf
https://www.lfl.bayern.de/ipz/hopfen/030222/index.php
https://portalagrari.gva.es/es/agricultura/avisos-de-tratamientos
https://areeiro.depo.gal/avisos-fitosanitarios-2025
Further reading
EU Plant Health Alerts: 3rd week of July 2025 - Overview for Farmers
EU Plant Health Alerts: mid July 2025 - Overview for Farmers
EU Plant Health Alerts 4th quarter of June 2025 - Overview for Farmers
EU Plant Health Alerts 4th quarter of June 2025 - Overview for Farmers
EU Plant Health Alerts: 3rd quarter of June 2025 - Overview for Farmers
Efficient Irrigation Practices & Innovations for EU Farmers Summer 2025
Seasonal Climate Forecast & Agricultural Outlook for Europe: July–September 2025
Bactrocera zonata: Urgent Alert for Greek Farmers and the Wider Mediterranean
The impact of the July 2025 heatwave on crops across southern Europe
Summer Fertilization and Plant Protection Under High Temperatures: Essential Strategies for Farmers
How to protect olive trees from heat and drought stress during summer months
