Agriculture intensifies fight against fruit flies

The Ministry of Agriculture will intensify actions against the carambola fly - a pest that mainly affects fruits such as mango, guava, acerola, cashew, tomato and star fruit. From now on, as a preventive measure, the state of Roraima will be defined as a phytosanitary emergency area for the execution of the pest Suppression and Eradication Plan. “The decision will speed up procedures in case the pest is reintroduced. We will be able to send more technicians to the State, acquire materials such as traps and insecticides, or apply more resources to this action”, explains the Secretary of Agricultural Defense of the Ministry of Agriculture, Francisco Jardim. The measure was published in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU) this Thursday (10), through Normative Instruction No. 9. There has been no outbreak of the fly in Roraima for 45 days.

 

In the municipality of Normandia, 174 traps are installed and, in Brazil, 4.104. For this year, resources of around R$6 million are planned to implement the plan to eradicate the plague in the country. The instruction prohibits the departure of fruits from host species from Roraima to the 26 federation units. Citrus fruits (lemon, orange, tangerine) and watermelon may cross state borders.

 

Since December 20, 2010, when the first outbreak was detected in the municipality, 9.486 vehicles have been inspected and 50.000 kg of fruit have been destroyed in the region. Furthermore, the ministry held seven phytosanitary education courses and guided around 250 people on the importance of these actions in the state. A course was specifically designed for leaders of indigenous communities. If an outbreak is detected, control measures are adopted, such as spraying, fly destruction techniques, collection and burial of the fruits.

 

In February, technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture met with representatives from the United States and Suriname to discuss an emergency plan to eradicate the carambola fly. The meeting was coordinated by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). Representatives of the National Phytosanitary Protection Organization (ONPF) of Brazil and the ONPF of France will debate the same topic on March 16, in Rome, at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

 

Classification

 

The following are considered high-risk areas for the spread of the carambola fly: Amapá, Amazonas, Maranhão, Pará and Roraima. At medium risk are Acre, Mato Grosso, Piauí, Rondônia, and Tocantins. The remaining states are considered low risk. The main forms of dissemination are the transport of contaminated fruits and the places where these products are sold.

 

Learn more

 

The carambola fly originates from Malaysia and Indonesia and was found in Suriname in 1985. It arrived in French Guiana in 1989 and, in 1996, the first outbreak appeared in Brazil, in the municipality of Oiapoque, in Amapá. In 2007, the pest appeared on the border of Amapá and Pará, but was eradicated in 2008. At the moment, the fly can be found in Roraima and Amapá, as these states border Guyana and French Guiana, where the pest is present. .

 

There are two traps to capture this pest: the Jackson (used to attract males, using a sexual attractant - pheromone) and the Mcphail (which attracts the attention of females, with a food attractant - the smell of guava). The fly's life cycle is 126 days. According to international standards, it takes 180 days for an outbreak to be considered eradicated from a municipality.

 

Kelly Beltrão

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