Introduction

Many fruit trees and vegetable crops in Libya are at risk of being infected by various types of insect pests that have a negative impact on the quantity and quality of agricultural production, the most important of which are fruit flies, which include many serious species that cause significant economic damage.

Project Objectives:

• To develop an effective and sustainable strategy for controlling this type of pest, promoting the rational use of pesticides and shifting towards alternative control methods and procedures.

• To reduce economic losses resulting from infestation of fruits and vegetables by this type of pest.

  Providing pesticide-free products suitable for consumption, processing, and export.

• Developing a skilled technical workforce trained in integrated pest management

• Establishing an early warning network to monitor any new and transboundary fruit fly species and to create a local database that can be used to inform the adoption of appropriate pest management measures.

The main procedures proposed for implementation in the project:

Monitoring, inspection, and surveillance: Regularly monitoring fruit fly species at various stages, studying their seasonal activity throughout the year using pheromone traps, and examining samples of different fruits to study the immature stages of the pest.

For localized control (partial spraying):

Use localized chemical control, i.e., apply the partial spraying method (food attractant + suitable pesticide) in severely infested areas to reduce the insect population in these areas and assess its effectiveness in reducing pest numbers.

Biological control

Identifying the biological enemies of fruit flies, attempting to multiply them, and using them extensively to reduce the reproduction of the pest, such as parasites, predators, and some pathogens, the most important of which are fungi and nematodes.

Sterile male technique

One of the insect control methods relies on raising large numbers of laboratory insects and exposing them to gamma rays to achieve sterility.When sterile males are released into the fields, they compete with natural males in the mating process with wild females that are widespread in the fields, ultimately producing sterile, unfertilized eggs that do not hatch. Thus, with repeated releases, the pest population decreases and falls below the level of damage or is eradicated.

Outcomes:

-Organizing seminars and participating in conferences to highlight the project’s technical, economic, and environmental outcomes.

-Publishing the results of research and scientific studies conducted within the project in selected scientific journals.

Proposed Teams

-A team is working on molecular biology studies to enhance the effectiveness of fruit fly control methods to be used in the project. They are currently coordinating with an international expert in this field to conduct joint scientific studies on producing and developing a genetically modified strain of a fruit fly species that can be used in sterile male release programs.

-A team is studying the use of local plant extracts in the biological control of fruit flies.

-A team is studying the natural enemies of fruit flies.

-A team is working on breeding a genetically modified strain of the fruit fly (Vienna 8), currently used in sterile male release programs, to test its homology with the local strain. This research is being conducted in collaboration with the Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria.

-A team is working on using traps and sex pheromones as biotechnologies for tracking and identifying fruit flies. In this regard, there will be collaboration with the Department of Biology – Invertebrates, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium, to confirm the identification of any transboundary fruit fly species.

-A team is also working on the microbial study of fruit flies.

Collaborations

Local Collaboration

University of Tripoli (Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Science)

University of Sebha (Faculty of Agriculture)

National Center for Plant Protection and Quarantine

National Center for Agricultural Extension, Cooperation and Media

Great Man-Made River Investment Authority (Abu Aisha Agricultural Project)

Libyan Energy Corporation

International Cooperation

-The Atomic Energy Agency, through the Pest Control Section of the Joint Programme between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, is a key partner in the implementation of a project aimed at building national capacities in the field of fruit fly control 

-Department of Biology – Invertebrates Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium.