Regional Management of Fruit Flies in the Pacific
INTRODUCTION Pest fruit flies
Why are they important?
The projectPROJECT ACTIVITIES Increasing knowledge
Protecting food security and export markets
Increasing fruit and vegetable production
Removing constraints to international trade
Improving technical skills
Disseminating information and transferring technologyWHO IS INVOLVED? Who is involved?
Fruit flies are serious pests of horticultural produce throughout tropical and sub-tropical countries. They belong to the insect family Tephritidae. They attack sound or damaged fruits by laying eggs under the skin. The eggs hatch into larvae (maggots) and feed on tissues, resulting in the rotting of fruits and, in some cases, premature fruit drop.
Adult female fruit fly laying eggs in fruit Fruit fly maggots in a fruit Fruit flies cause direct losses to fruit production because of the feeding habits of the larvae. In some instances, egg-laying results in disfigured fruits, e.g. passion fruit and some avocados. Field control measures using insecticide cover sprays are usually expensive and environmentally damaging. In instances where exotic species become established in a country, very expensive eradication programmes have to be carried out.
The presence of fruit flies in a country invariably results in restrictions on trade, unless post-harvest quarantine treatments are available and acceptable to the importing country. Many Pacific Island countries and territories have experienced the impact of the occurrence of fruit flies from this perspective.
The first phase of the Regional Fruit Fly Project commenced in September 1990, and ceased in December 1993. It was funded by the combined support of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) (previously called AIDAB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the South Pacific Commission (SPC), now known as Secretariat of the Pacific Community. The amount of funding was USD858,000 (including two Technical Cooperation Projects worth USD304,000, funded by FAO). It initially operated in Fiji Islands, Cook Islands, Tonga and Western Samoa (now called Samoa).
The second phase, funded by AusAID, UNDP and the New Zealand Government (USD 1,146,396) operated from January 1994 to April 1997 and included the four countries above plus Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
The third phase was funded by AusAID, UNDP and the New Zealand Government (USD 1,770,700), and was known as the Project on Regional Management of Fruit Flies in the Pacific. It started in May 1997 and included all 22 Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs). Phase 3 officially ended in December 2000.
Detailed account of the Project's history and achievements.
Since January 2001, fruit fly project activities are fully embedded into SPC's Plant Protection Service and constitute Component 2 – Fruit Fly Management of the Project on Pest Management in the Pacific, which will operate until the end of 2004. More information
The development objective of the Project is to strengthen the technical capacity of the Governments and Administrations and the private sectors in PICTs to manage fruit flies regionally in order to protect fresh fruit and vegetable production and export and to enhance farmers' incomes, food security and rural employment.
What are the project's activities?
The project, through maintaining permanent trapping stations and undertaking host fruit and vegetable surveys, produces information on the species present in each country, when they occur seasonally, where they occur within each country, their wild and edible/commercial hosts, their parasitoids, and the levels of damage and the economic significance of fruit flies. As a result, countries are in a stronger position to negotiate quarantine protocols for export of fresh fruits and focus research on the development of field control strategies and quarantine treatments for particular commodities.
Protecting Food Security and Export Markets TOP
Early warning or quarantine surveillance systems are operating in all 22 PICTs to detect incursions of exotic fruit flies. Regionally, there are 1,495 trapping sites in 77 islands or provinces. Each site contains at least one methyl eugenol trap and most sites also have a Cue-lure trap.
Fourteen of the 22 PICTs have draft emergency response plans and adequate legislation to cope with an outbreak of an exotic fruit fly. About 46 staff from 19 PICTs and SPC have received hands-on training in running an eradication programme for exotic fruit flies.
Increasing fruit and vegetable production TOP
Field control of fruit flies in the South Pacific was non-existent or relied on the use of insecticides not designed specifically for fruit fly control. The project has developed a protein bait spraying system. The principle of protein bait spraying is to apply a small volume of protein bait to about one square metre of foliage or as a band to the foliage of row crops. This attracts the female fly which requires a meal of protein before it can lay fertile eggs. While feeding on the bait, the fly consumes a toxic dose of insecticide. This method of control is environmentally sound, reduces the amount of insecticide used and the possibility of insecticide residues in produce, and conserves beneficial insects.
The project also promotes simple, inexpensive control methods, such as bagging fruits in newspaper bags to protect them from female flies. Better crop hygiene practices are also encouraged, i.e. destruction of crop residues.
This combination of practices has given good control of fruit flies in guava, mango, papaya, capsicum and chilli.
Removing constraints to international trade TOP
The advantages of using ethylene dibromide as a method of disinfesting fruit and vegetables destined for export have been lost because its use has been banned (e.g. in USA, Australia and Japan) or through the imposition of stringent restrictions on the levels of residues in produce (e.g. in New Zealand).
Alternative treatments have been developed. These include testing host susceptibility of produce, particularly of those commodities that are not normally attacked by fruit flies, and adapting and applying the forced hot air quarantine treatment technology developed by the United States Department of Agriculture in Hawaii. Other technologies will also be examined.
Improving technical skills TOP
One of the activities of the project is to provide access to training for counterpart plant protection staff, for extension and quarantine staff, and for farmers and exporters in each country. This is done by running field demonstrations, workshops and seminars and making provisions for placement or attachment training. Also, the project introduced the system of using Junior Scientific Officers (JSOs) into Papua New Guinea to enhance national skills and ownership of the project.
Disseminating Information and transferring technology TOP
The Project plays an important role in disseminating information on the management of fruit flies to all levels of the community. The Proceedings of the Symposium on the Management of Fruit Flies (1997) contained 51 technical papers on fruit flies in the Pacific. The Project compiles SPC Pest Advisory Leaflets on fruit flies and an Infofly Newsletter in PNG, and has developed a Web Page on Fruit Flies in the Pacific. Information disseminating aids the transfer of technology on fruit fly management between the PICTs and public awareness of the importance of fruit flies.
The Regional Fruit Fly Projects have been initiated and run by Mr. Allan Allwood, the Chief Technical Advisor who remained with the Project until April 2000. The Fruit Fly Management - Pest Management in the Pacific is now coordinated by Ms. Ema Tora Vueti, who is assisted by a fruit fly entomologist (Mr. Luc Leblanc) and a technician (Mr. Nacanieli Waqa), all three based in Fiji Islands. National staff funded by the Project include three Junior Scientific Officer entomologists in Papua New Guinea (Solomon Balagawi, Amanda Mararuai, David Putulan) and a technician in Solomon Islands (Geoffrey Oliouou).
The Project liaises and co-operates very closely with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), especially in Papua New Guinea, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service in Hilo, Hawaii, the Crown Research Institutes (New Zealand), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and overseas quarantine and research authorities in Hawaii, US mainland, Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia. It liaises with projects within UNDP and other regional organizations.
For more details, consult the
Fruit Fly Management - Pest Management in the PacificPage updated on: 18 October, 2002
