For 17 years, Kitui mango farmers have had to deal with fruit flies that have destroyed their fruits, making them unfit for the market.
This is, however, about to end after the International Centre of Insects Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) intervened to end the problem. The farmers say their produce has always been destroyed by the fruit flies, which leads to decreased sales.
Fruit flies came into Africa in 2003 from Asia and settled in the Coastal region before spreading to all African states.
Farmers have since then constantly raised concerns about the fly that ravages three mangoes in every ten. Following the concerns, ICIPE initiated a study on how to defeat the insects.
Dr Shepard Ndlela, a postdoctoral researcher, said ICIPE together with national. regional, international, and the donor community joined hands to research and develop a fruit fly package.
“We now have five complete steps in the fight against the fruit flies which we have brought in Kitui and hope they will be effective as farmers from other regions have confirmed their effectiveness," Ndlela said.
He added that the five methods target the flies from the eggs to the adult.He also said for the farmers to defeat the fruit flies, they ought to use at least three of the five methods to completely eliminate them. The package involves bating, male elimination, biological control, use of biopesticides, and sanitation.
The researcher said they have received positive feedback from farmers who have used the methods in Embu, Meru and the Coastal region, among other parts of the country.“If the methods, which are non-chemicals in nature, are used consistently over a large area there is hope for farmers,” the researcher said.
Ndlela, however, cautioned farmers against spraying the mango trees with other pesticides while using the ICIPE methods to avoid making the process dangerous to the environment.
The flies also affect other fruits such as oranges, lemons as well as vegetables.He said the efforts to control the fly have been done in stages, which have culminated to the full package dubbed IPM.
“We are now advancing to post-production and are hopeful we will one day open the markets that are currently inaccessible,” he added.Ndlela spoke at Itoloni area in Mwingi West subcounty in Kitui where they launched the package.
Moses Mutia, Mwingi West Horticultural Cooperative Society Limited chairman, lauded the exercise, saying the flies had affected their yields, causing them to receive very low incomes.
Mutia, who has over 200 mango trees, said he expected a harvest of around Sh250,000 last season but ended up getting Sh12,000 after most of his fruits were destroyed by the flies.Mutia said over 150 cooperative society members also suffered losses.
“We are hopeful that this menace will be dealt with once and for all as the flies had demoralised us from mango farming,” the chairman said.
John Mwendwa, a farmer and member of the society, said he has 195 mango trees but only received Sh5,000 because of flies.
Edited by EKibii
