Fruit farmers of Brazil and of the world have been granted assistance in fighting the worst pests that affect their crops: fruit flies, scientific name Ceratitis Capitata. The Biofabrica Moscamed Brasil factory, in the city of Juazeiro, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia is becoming the first to produce sterile fruit flies to help combat the plague.
Sterile insect technique is a method of biological control, whereby millions of sterile insects are released. The released insects are normally male as it is the female that causes the damage, usually by laying eggs in the crop. The sterile males compete with the wild males for female insects. If a female mates with a sterile male then it will have no offspring, thus the next generation's population is reduced. Repeated release of insects can eventually wipe out a population, though it is often more useful to consider controlling the population rather than eradicating it.
The biofactory, whose target is to produce 200 million sterile male flies per week, is born with the perspective of being an exporter. According to agronomist Antonio Nascimento, the Moscamed Brasil technical and scientific consultant, Spain and South Africa are potential markets for future exports of natural pest control.
The researcher explains that research took ten years. Work by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), universities and research institutes was necessary to reach the biofactory. "This is truly interdisciplinary and inter-institutional team work," he said. The technology for production of sterile fruit flies is already used in other countries, but not in Brazil, the third largest world producer of fruit. The biofactory is the first of its kind.
According to him, the sterile insect technique will reduce the use of pesticides in Brazilian fruit farming and will represent a positive impact to the environment. "On the other hand, this technology will contribute to the production of more healthy fruit, as well as increasing the Brazilian competitiveness on the foreign fruit market, marked by greater and greater demands with regard to food safety," pointed out Nascimento.
Biofábrica Moscamed
Quadra D13, Lote 15 - Distrito Industrial do São Francisco
Juazeiro - Bahia
Telephone: (+5574) 36125399
Site: www.moscamed.org.br
