Fao’s Efforts For The Management Of The Peach Fruit Fly (Bactrocera Zonata) In The Middle East And North Africa Countries

Khaled Alrouechdi, 3 bis rue Abdelmalek Ibn Marouene P.O. Box 300 Cité Mahrajène 1082 Tunis-Belvédère, Tunisia

Abstract

The Peach Fruit Fly (PFF) is an extremely aggressive pest that infests some of the main commercial fruit and vegetable crops including citrus, peach, mango, guava and tomatoes. It causes up to 100% loss when untreated. In the Middle East region, B. zonata is established and widespread in Egypt and also present in Yemen, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Oman. It has been recently reported in Palestine and Lebanon. Should this pest spreads to PFF-free countries around the Mediterranean Basin and get established, the economic impact on the domestic and export market fruit production could be in the order of billions of US dollars per year as a consequence of increased direct damage, control, quarantine restrictions, cost of certification programmes (including post harvest treatments) and social and environmental impact. To further acknowledge this serious problem and its regional implications, representatives from the Middle East and North African countries, strongly supported the idea of establishing a FAO/ PFF regional project to assess the current status of the pest in the region , build up a vigilance system and create an emergency response capability to face eventual pest outbreaks. The concerned Governements requested FAO technical assistance to facilitate the establishment of this project and to strengthen the capabilities for PFF surveillance and emergency preparedness. The objective of the regional project (13 countries) is to assist in eliminating the PPF in countries where it is established and in preventing its dissemination to other countries of the region, through field control/eradication actions and capacity strengthening in PFF management, surveillance and emergency preparedness. The project will also facilitate the establishment of a Regional Task Force (RTF) for concerted action