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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #204848
Title: Exporting fruit from low fruit fly prevalence zones with a multiple mitigation systems approach

Author
item Jang, Eric
item MAU, RONALD - UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
item Vargas, Roger
item McInnis, Donald

Submitted to: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Area-Wide Management of Insect Pests
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/2006
Publication Date: 10/5/2006
Citation: Jang, E.B., Mau, R.F., Vargas, R.I., Mcinnis, D.O. 2006. Exporting fruit from low fruit fly prevalence zones with a multiple mitigation systems approach. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Area-Wide Management of Insect Pests. 63-69.

Interpretive Summary: Fruit flies are serious pests of agriculture worldwide. In order to mitigate the spread of these invasive pests fruit and vegetables must be treated with pesticide, fumigants or other means, or certified free of fruit flies before entering in trade. While single treatments such as fumigation have been popular in the past newer methods such as the systems approach have been developed to allow for the same level of security using multiple mitigation measures. While these measures might be more effort, it could be useful where the level of infestion is low or single treatments are too damaging to the fruits. Where present here the conceptual framework for how this systems approach might work and give examples of successful systems approaches that have been developed.

Technical Abstract: With the increase emphasis on trade of fresh fruits and vegetables worldwide, systems approaches have become part of an international effort to reduce risk of establishing new pests while providing a biological basis to risk assessment. Areawide pest management programs have been shown to be successful in many demonstration programs worldwide. However their utility in actual practice ranges from successful to unsuccessful depending on the focus of the program and the desired milestones of the program. Areawide programs might also be used in export programs as part of an overall "systems approach" to quarantine security thus allowing for the movement of commodities from one area to another. Systems approaches, like areawide pest management, are concepts developed and implemented from research whereby multiple actions are cumulatively are more successful than any single tactic alone.