The fruit fly population in Gitonga’s two-acre (0.8-hectare) orchard was “minimal” when he first started commercial avocado farming eight years ago. “The damage by the fruit flies is quite devastating,” Gitonga told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Higher temperatures also cause fruit to ripen faster and release more of the compound that attracts fruit flies, encouraging their feeding and egg-laying, he added. Farmers also try to pick their fruit as soon as it is ripe to shorten the time it can attract fruit flies. Augustus Kivi, a plant health officer at KEPHIS, said the organisation is encouraging farmers to use a combination of methods, including pheromone-based fruit fly traps.

Source: Standard Digital April 12, 2020 09:00 UTC