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In 2001, seven Central American countries approached the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture for help in reducing fruit fly prevalence in the region. This is critical for the export of fresh produce. Pilot projects developed as a teaching tool for Central American farmers were so successful that they were not only used as a demonstration, but also became an important part of import and export agreements. A major importing country accepted the demonstration results as proof that pest prevalence was low in the project areas and that these areas could be used as part of a systems approach to meeting phytosanitary import requirements.
Traditionally, Central American countries have grown crops such as coffee, bananas and sugar cane, which are not affected by the Mediterranean or other types of fruit fly pests. As a result, growers have never had to meet the stringent phytosanitary standards for export that are required for many high-value tropical crops that are hosts to fruit flies. However, since the 1990s, growers have been facing volatility in international markets and falling prices for their traditional commodities. In response, they have diversified their production to grow more high-value horticultural products such as tomatoes, bell peppers and papayas for export. This has created a new problem. These crops are hosts to fruit flies, which means that growers need to meet standards for exporting to countries that are free of such pests. These importing countries simply will not accept fresh produce unless there is evidence that the consignment will not carry fruit flies. This means that investment in these new crops will be greatly limited as long as this phytosanitary issue is not resolved.
Successful fruit fly control relies on a full range of technologies
The Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture has learned from the experience of other fruit fly eradication and control projects in the region that it is not enough to release sterile fruit flies alone to be successful. Such a regional project needs to be coordinated, and Central America needs to take a holistic approach to the problem and develop complementary phytosanitary policies in the region. The Joint FAO/IAEA Division has proposed an initiative that focuses on combining pest management methods with a region-wide approach, including the use of the sterile insect technique (SIT) when necessary. Pilot areas with low pest prevalence will be established as a basis for further development of specific system approaches for each product. The initiative also calls for collaboration among Central American governments, fruit growers, fruit exporters and international organizations.
The project, launched in 2001 with support from the Joint FAO/IAEA Division, provides a complete technical package. Growers first learned to measure the size of fruit fly populations in their fields and neighbouring areas, and how to suppress them using measures other than the SIT as part of an integrated pest management approach. They also learned the steps to successfully apply the SIT, how to monitor and measure the resulting insect prevalence levels, how to set up a database system to prove that they have indeed achieved low prevalence levels, how to communicate their results to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), and how to negotiate export agreements with importing countries, where a systems approach is the best option for pest risk management.
The project also invited the United States, a major importing country, to examine the pilot areas in the different countries where the work was being done and to participate in the development of a work plan for the export systems approach. This allowed these countries to start exporting their products immediately, as the United States was able to validate the results of the pilot areas and the systems approach would become the basis for actual import and export agreements.
FAO/IAEA pest control success leads to increased investment and employment
When the project started in 2001, the experts from the Joint FAO/IAEA Division involved in the pilot project knew that the IPPC was developing standards for areas of low fruit fly prevalence and systems approaches for fruit flies. They anticipated that phytosanitary rules might change mid-project and prepared for this eventuality. So, in 2008, when the IPPC published the standard allowing for “low fruit fly prevalence”, the Central America project had already been working in this direction for several years.
After the pilot project ended in 2007, the Joint Division stepped up its activities in two or three locations in each country, aiming to establish low-prevalence areas and further develop the systems approach. As a result, countries have established import and export arrangements, while private sector entrepreneurs have invested in tropical fruit and vegetable production, expanding cultivated areas and employing more rural workers. In most cases, 80% of the workers are women working in processing, packaging and quality control, and 20% are men working in the fields. Other supporting industries are now emerging, such as fresh fruit and vegetable packaging and transportation companies, ensuring that local growers can meet the increased export demand generated by meeting low-prevalence and systems approach standards.
Sterile Insect Technique (SIT)
The sterile insect technique involves raising large numbers of male insects, sterilizing them in an ionizing radiation chamber, and then releasing them into a target area. They mate with wild fertile females but do not produce offspring. This method has been used with great success since the 1970s as an environmentally friendly, chemical-free method of controlling insect pest populations.
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