Melon fly eradication project in Okinawa, JAPAN

Published: Jue, 28 May 2015, 15:03
Last updated: Mié, 07 Oct 2015, 09:41
The fruit fly is a major agricultural pest infesting crops such as gourds (the host fruits of the melon fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae)) and citrus fruit (the host fruits of the oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis)). The fruit flies do not just do damage by the directly harming crops; there is also the less-visible damage caused by the fact that, by law, the transportation if infested crops from areas in which the fruit fly occurs to area in which it does not occur is prohibited or subject to restrictions. This problem can not be solved merely by reducing the amount of damage on the agricultural products; the only answer is the complete eradication of fruit flies. To eradicate these fruit flies two control methods below were adopted, instead of applying enormous amounts of chemicals that could be harmful to the natural environment:

• Sterile insect technique for the melon fly
• Male annihilation technique for the oriental fruit fly

As a result, the oriental fruit fly was successfully eradicated from Japan in 1986, the melon fly in 1993. This pamphlet introduces and explains the melon fly eradication project in Okinawa, Japan.
Resource provide by:

• NPPO of Japan

Type of contact: ONPF
Tags:

• Case study

Documents:
Melon fly eradication.pdf