To combat Mediterranean fruit fly, one of the world’s most destructive fruit pests, Morocco has placed an order for 440 million sterile Ceratitis capitata from Argentina, according to El Economista business newspaper. The sterile fruit flies will be supplied by the Institute of Agricultural Health and Quality of Mendoza (ISCAMEN). Ten million flies will be sent to Morocco weekly. Morocco used to get the sterile medfly from Bio-tech center in Valencia, Spain. The medfly larvae feed upon the pulp of host fruits, sometimes tunneling through it and eventually reducing the whole to a juicy, inedible mass.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 10, 2020 13:41 UTC