Caribbean Fruit Fly Meeting

The Regional Workshop on Management of Tropical Fruit Flies, hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture in Grenada on 16–19 March 2004, provided an opportunity for 18 participants from the countries of the Caribbean basin to assess the threat fruit flies pose in the region, to develop action plans for each country, and to acquire the knowledge and technical expertise necessary to combat fruit flies.

Fruit flies constitute some of the world's major insect pests of fresh fruit and vegetables. A number of species are known to be present or are threatening countries in the Caribbean basin. These include Anastrepha species such as West Indian fruit fly (A. obliqua), Mexican fruit fly (A. ludens), Caribbean fruit fly (A. suspensa) and South American fruit fly (A. fraterculus), Bactrocera species and in particular carambola fruit fly (B. carambolae), and Mediterranean fruit fly or Medfly (Ceratitis capitata). Because the range of crops that can be attacked is broad and the impact on trade can be enormous, the need for capacity building in the region to combat fruit flies was seen as a priority. However, fruit flies are just one example of the phenomenal challenges faced by the region from invasive species. By developing the capacity to deal with fruit flies, countries also develop the capacity to deal with the wider problem.

The Grenada meeting formed part of the IPM Project under the EC-CARIFORUM Caribbean Agriculture and Fisheries Programme (CAFP). Workshop participants were drawn from all CARIFORUM countries (except Haiti) and the French Antilles. The workshop was implemented by CAB International's Caribbean and Latin America Regional Centre (CLARC) in collaboration with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agriculture Research Service (ARS) and Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the University of Florida, the Florida Department of Industry, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), and the Joint FAO/International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. Partner agencies also provided materials and support including funds to cover attendance of resource persons and the participant from Guadeloupe. The workshop was designed to provide support and capacity building to countries at risk that must manage tropical fruit flies. The emphasis was on training representative technical staff from regional ministries of agriculture on prevention, surveillance, control and eradication of fruit flies and related issues. Specifically they learnt to:

• Identify the key fruit fly pests that are established or threatening the region
• Undertake surveys and surveillance activities
• Fully understand the various options for prevention and management of fruit flies
• Be fully conversant with the key technologies, such as trapping, eradication, biological control and cultural control
• Develop linkages with key experts and institutions
• Create national and regional strategies for dealing with fruit flies

The workshop used a mixture of formal lectures, hands-on practical exercises and participatory discussion sessions, and drew on the expertise of a group of international experts. It began with an overview (M. Kairo), which outlined expectations for the course, followed by lectures on the fruit flies of economic importance in the region (A. Norrbom) and the biology and ecology of the major species (A. van Sauers Muller & M. Kairo). Participants from Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & The Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and Guadeloupe & Martinique then presented country reports. The content of these varied, depending on the history and severity of the fruit fly problem in the reporting country. Aspects covered included an overview of the country's agriculture and trade in fresh fruit and vegetables, which fruit flies are present, their economic importance, the main crops affected, pathways for entry and national capacity to combat them, and on-going and proposed prevention and management initiatives.

Next, a series of lectures dealt with the possible management approaches and methods: area-wide management (W. Klassen), sterile insect technique (SIT) and the economics of area-wide SIT (W. Enkerlin), reduced-risk tactics (O. Liburd) and biological control (T. Holler). The field trip that followed used the fact that Grenada is currently grappling with the West Indian fruit fly, a pest that has only recently been reported there, as an opportunity for participants to experience first hand the problems associated with the management of fruit flies. The trip focused on observing the Grenada programme against A. obliqua.

Case studies on initiatives against fruit flies were presented by participants from Grenada (West Indian fruit fly), Surinam (Carambola fruit fly), Florida (Medfly) and Mexico/Guatemala (Medfly/Anastrepha spp.). These described the detection of the fruit fly and the immediate response to it, identified the major hosts, their economic (trade) value and the impact of the fruit fly invasion (e.g. trade restrictions), outlined management activities, highlighted public awareness campaigns, listed the resources available to combat the pest and the collaborators, and discussed what the next steps might or should be.

Subsequent panel discussions (led by M. Shannon & N. Leppla) dealt with the options for managing invasive fruit fly threats through prevention, detection and control. Control options considered included chemicals and the practicalities of using them, and the realities of using SIT operationally. The development, organization and management of an emergency response were also considered. Participants then learnt about international standards relevant to fruit flies and the FAO regional project on fruit flies (G. Pollard) and US activities and scope for partnership (M. Shannon & C. Cohen).

The penultimate sessions concentrated on practical aspects, including collecting and recognizing fruit flies (A. Norrbom) and their natural enemies (T. Holler), and on partnerships, networking and information (M. Kairo). Training materials were produced as a manual, which is available for interested parties in participating countries. Lastly, based on the discussions and practical experience, participants prepared action plans for implementation when they returned to their countries.

As part of the workshop, discussions were held to explore how prevention and management efforts in the Caribbean might be mounted, and general recommendations on a prevention/management strategy for fruit flies were agreed. These covered the need to develop sustainable solutions, given the correlation between the increased threat from invasive species and increased trade; the need for the development of prevention and management strategies, recognizing the impact of the close cultural and economic links on increasing the threat; the need for the current status of fruit flies (monitoring, suppression, regulations, public awareness and training) to be evaluated; options for management; an outline of the key elements of a prevention management programme; and the feasibility of a SIT approach and other options.

In the long-term, it was concluded, costs for area-wide control are expected to be lower than conventional control and thus provide socioeconomic and environmental benefits as well as sustainable control. Implementation of such an approach should also help build capacity in prevention and management to deal with future threats, and foster the development of collaborative networks across the region.

This highly successful workshop met its goal in providing participants with the necessary tools, training and information to be able to spearhead activities in their countries. For further development of the ideas discussed at this workshop, buy-in by the regional ministries of agriculture and donor organizations is required.

Contact: Moses Kairo or Vyju Lopez,
CABI-CLARC, Gordon Street, Curepe,
Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies.
Email: m.kairo@cabi.org/v.lopez@cabi.org
Fax: +1 868 663 2859

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Florida Fruit Fly Meeting

The 5th Meeting of the Working Group on Fruit Flies of the Western Hemisphere was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on 16–21 May 2004, co-hosted by USDA-ARS (US Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service) Subtropical Horticulture Research Station, USDA-APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service), Miami, and IFAS (University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences). The meeting was attended by over 210 participants, with about a quarter of these coming from more than 30 overseas countries. Participants were from the fields of entomology, chemistry, genetics, biology and taxonomy, and included consultants, managers and regulators who are actively involved in all aspects of tephritid fruit fly detection. Presentations covered methods of detection, control and eradication, as well as biological control and regulatory procedures.

Participants reviewed research and formulated new goals and approaches to management strategies and action programmes for Mediterranean fruit flies or Medflies (Ceratitis capitata) and species of Anastrepha, Bactrocera, Rhagoletis and other tephritid fruit flies, which present a serious threat to production. For example, APHIS estimates that agricultural losses would be about US$1.5 billion a year if medflies were to become established in the continental USA.

During the plenary session an opening address, 'Future perspectives of SIT', was given by Donald Lindquist. There were a further seven oral presentations: Jesus Reyes, IAEA (International Atomic Energy Authority) - FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN), Guatemala: 'A multi-institutional approach to implement fruit fly low prevalence and free areas in Central America: outcomes and constraints'; Pedro Réndon, USDA-APHIS-PPQ (Plant Protection and Quarantine): 'Efficacy of the sterile insect technique (SIT) combined with releases of braconid parasitoids'; Walther Enkerlin, IAEA-FAO, Austria: 'Trapping guidelines for area-wide fruit fly programs'; Jane Levy, USDA-APHIS-PPQ: 'Application of the APHIS irradiation rule for movement of fruit fly host material'; José Luís Zavala, SAGARPA (Secretaría de Agricultura, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación, Mexico): 'Systems approach guidelines for Anastrepha ludens'; Carol Lauzon, California State University, Hayward: 'The role of microbial endosymbionts in the life history of fruit flies'; and Ron Mau, University of Hawaii, Manoa: 'Overview of the Hawaii area-wide fruit fly IPM education program'.

Sessions for reviewing and discussing poster presentations covered basic and applied biological studies, detection methods, control and eradication methods, biological control, the sterile insect technique, regulatory procedures, and programme management. These were followed by roundtable discussions for each topic to assess research findings and technical needs. The occasion also provided an opportunity for Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to meet, including the Caribbean Initiative Planning Group; Bob Griffin (USDA-APHIS-PPQ) led a meeting on the risk analysis process; and in a further meeting, ARS-APHIS, CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture) and Florida DPI (Division of Plant Industry) considered Batrocera trapping.

The 6th Meeting of the Working Group on Fruit Flies of the Western Hemisphere will be held in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil in September 2006, in conjunction with the 7th International Symposium on Fruit Flies of Economic Importance [see Announcements, this issue].

Web: http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/flies

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IOBC/WPRS Tackles Plant Pests and Diseases

The IOBC/WPRS (International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control of Noxious Animals and Plants, Western Palaearctic Regional Section) meeting, 'Management of plant diseases and arthropod pests by BCAs and their integration in agricultural systems' was held at the Istituto Agrario di San Michele all'Adige (IASMA) and the Centre for Research and Development of Crop Protection with Low Environment and Consumer-Health Impact (SafeCrop Centre) in Italy on 9-13 June 2004. It brought together three IOBC/WPRS working groups: Biological Control of Fungal and Bacterial Plant Pathogens, Integrated Control in Protected Crops, Temperate Climate and Integrated Control in Protected Crops, Mediterranean Climate. The meeting focused on mechanisms of disease, mode of action of biocontrol agents and integrated pest management of plant pathogens, and insect pests on grapevine, apples, strawberry, horticulture and small soft fruits.

There were 36 lectures and 68 posters presented in eight oral and two poster sessions under the themes: (i) combined management for control of pests and diseases, (ii) integrated control of diseases, (iii) risk characterization of BCAs (biological control agents), (iv) management of soil borne diseases, (v) mode of action of BCAs, (vi) postharvest, (vii) combination of control means and (viii) integrated management of diseases. Presentations covered scientific research (laboratory and field trials) and commercial development of BCAs (Trichoderma spp., Verticilium lecanii, Clonostachys rosea, Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae and Coniothyrium minitans) in countries such as Spain, France, UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Israel.

There were also discussion sessions after presentations, and a roundtable, 'What will be the future for biological control agents (BCAs)?' Interesting presentations at this roundtable included Dr Elzbieta Ceglarska (Project Officer, European Commission [EC]) on 'EU policies in biocontrol research and biocontrol implementation', Dr Massimo Benuzzi (R&D Manager, Intrachem Bio Italia S.p.A.) on 'The industry point of view on problems in developing BCAs', and Dr Sergio Franceschini (Intrachem Bio Italia S.p.A.) on 'EU registration problems and possible solutions'. Dr Ceglarska gave a good overview of EU FP6 (the European Union Sixth Framework Programme) pointing out that new topics will be included in 2006, particularly on legislation hot issues and funding for registration of BCAs.

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