10 Jan 2016

Stakeholders in Francistown and surrounding areas have been urged to work in partnership to continue with the fight against fruit fly that is very destructive.

Officially opening the End of Project Worksop on management of fruit flies at Tati-River Lodge recently, the director of Crop Production Mr Galeitsiwe Ramokapane said fruit flies were among the most destructive insects pest of fruits and vegetables around the world and have a huge impact on Botswana’s agricultural sector.

Mr Ramokapane explained that Botswana began its national detection surveys of fruit flies in 2007 in order to update fruity fly pest list and detect any fruit fly species of quarantine importance.

He said the project is coming to an end after it ran for the past 24 months due to lack of funds, however encouraged the farmers who gained experience from training  to disseminate information to the nation because that will still  remain a challenge to them.

Mr Ramokapane said in February 2010, Bactrocera dorsalis, as fruit fly is scientifically known, was detected in Chobe District in northern Botswana, noting that Chobe shares the borders with Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe, hence cross border was eminent given its nature of mobility.

He revealed that in July 2012, another Bactrocera dorsalis outbreak was recorded in Tuli Block, which is in the Central District of Botswana.

In addition, he said the areas shares borders with Zimbabwe and South Africa however, despite their control effort in Chobe, in May 2013 the pest was detected in North East District.

“In view of the proximity of the areas threatened with the pest, an agreement was made by Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe jointly, to make a project memorandum to request for funding from Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to control the pest,” he said.

Mr Ramokapane urged farmers to note that because of the nature of the pest and having wide range of host, no control measures can be carried out effectively in isolation, hence the collaboration with other countries. He said the government has appreciated the efforts by FAO for providing funds to the tune of P1.7 million to control the pest in the affected areas to purchase fruit fly management material.

Furthermore, he said Bactrocera dorsalis, is relatively a new pest in Botswana and in SADC region, adding that it has a wide range of both cultivates and wild host.

He said they should appreciate that most horticultural farmers in the Tuli Block and North East District grow fruit fly host crops and farmers experience huge financial losses in a bid to control the fruit flies.

Furthermore, Mr Ramokapane said the fruit damaged by the fruit flies are of low quality and this reduces their market value.

He said the government has embarked on a number of initiatives aimed at improving food production such as Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development (ISPAAD) and it assists all subsistence and commercial farmers with a variety of inputs and services.

As a way forward, farmers suggested an increased number of inspectors at the borders, train more farmers and street vendors, abide with rules and regulations, and also convert the project into a programme. Ends