1. Title Management of fruit fly problems in the South Pacific Region

Transcription

1 A. SUMMARY 1. Title Management of fruit fly problems in the South Pacific Region 2. Duration (Southeast Asia) 1991-present (Pacific region) 3. Objectives All countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands suffer major economic losses from infestations of tropical fruit flies. The Australian Centre for International Research (ACIAR) originally began funding research partnerships on studying tropical fruit flies in 1986, when it commissioned joint studies involving the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI), Australia, and the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI). This project elucidated the complex taxonomy of fruit flies in Malaysia, and showed that the economically damaging species could be safely controlled using bait sprays containing insecticide produced from wastes from a local brewery. An initial 3-year project was extended to include Thailand in At about the same time, South Pacific countries requested assistance with fruit fly control. At that time the situation with fruit flies was little understood. Fruit exported to major markets in New Zealand, Australia and Japan was disinfested by fumigation using ethylene dibromide (EDB). However, permitted EDB residue levels were about to be reduced to levels incompatible with fruit fly disinfestation, and these exports were therefore under threat. Two approaches to this problem have been studied disinfestation using heat treatments, and control of fruit flies before harvest. This latter approach requires detailed biological information on every fruit fly species present. ACIAR assisted with development and assessment of heat disinfestation treatments through two collaborative projects involving Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The results found valuable application in the Pacific Region. To bring about control of fruit flies in Pacific Region countries, they commenced an initiative known as the Regional Fruit Fly Project (RFFP), funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the South Pacific Commission, now known as The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). ACIAR joined forces with the RFFP in 1991 to provide research and technical expertise to the project, drawing on the experience of the previous projects with Malaysia and Thailand. ACIAR has commissioned three collaborative projects in the Pacific Region on fruit flies and their control with the RFFP, with Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia, and more recently with Papua New Guinea (PNG). The main objectives were: identification of the fruit fly species present and understanding the complex taxonomy of tropical fruit flies development of cheap and locally available protein bait materials for use in large-scale field control of the flies by protein bait spraying training of partner national scientists and technicians in fruit fly and host plant identification, and in fruit fly control methods contribution to the development of regional control and trade protocols.

2 4. Activities Systematic collection in all seasons of cultivated and wild fruits, and rearing of fruit flies and fly parasites gathered from these, to determine the geographical distribution, host fruit range, pest status (including maximum infestation levels), seasonality, and extent of control by natural enemies for each fruit fly species Provision of training of people from the Pacific countries in fruit fly and host plant identification Study of the effects of fly species on commercial crops and attempting to solve difficult problems of fly identification Incorporation of information on fruit fly and their host plants in a database for use in the region Development of cheap and locally available protein bait materials for use in large-scale field control of the flies as spot sprays, and in particular development of a method of treating and autolysing brewery yeast waste from the Royal Brewery in Tonga in order to formulate a protein bait spray for fruit fly control development of a mixture that has a reasonable shelf-life and test the attractancy of chosen yeast autolysate formulations developed from brewery waste establishment of a model plant in Tonga for brewery yeast waste treatment as a basis for a commercial unit Supplying provision of protein bait spray and advice on how to run trials to test its effectiveness From 1999 establishment of a fruit fly research and training program in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to protect crop production there and to prevent the spread of dangerous exotic fruit flies into other countries, including Australia. 5. Area Natural Resource Management and Agroecology 6. Region Pacific A. STAKEHOLDERS 1. Beneficiaries fruit growers in all countries involved (reduced losses from fruit flies; cheap baits in Tonga) fruit exporters in Fiji, Tonga and Cook Islands (markets to developed nations restored) fruit eaters in all countries involved (more fruit and better nutrition) all countries involved because of reduced risk of fruit fly damage to horticulture islanders of Nauru under 30 years of age, who had never tasted local mangoes because all were destroyed by fruit flies Australian fruit growers because the studies in the Pacific and Southeast Asia contributes to the quarantine security of the country s valuable horticultural industries. 2. Research partners Pacific Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Australia Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia Ministry of Agriculture, Cook Islands Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Fiji Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Kingdom of Tonga Ministry of Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries and Meteorology, Samoa Regional Fruit Fly Project (AusAID, UNDP, FAO and SPC) Department of Resources and Development, Federated States of Micronesia Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Solomon Islands Department of Agriculture and Horticulture, Vanuatu 2

3 Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Kingdom of Tonga National Agricultural Research Institute, PNG Department of Agriculture and Livestock, PNG 3. Donors and budget ACIAR has been the donor for the four ACIAR Pacific projects, which have operated in conjunction with the larger Regional Fruit Fly Project (RFFP). Budgets for the ACIAR fruit fly control projects were: Pacific ACIAR $A 1. Identification and control of pest fruit flies of the South Pacific..480, Identification of pest fruit flies in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Federated States of Micronesia 660, Development of economical protein bait sprays from brewery waste for fruit fly control 150, Identification, biology, management and quarantine systems for fruit flies in Papua New Guinea 1,800,000 Total (undiscounted $ values) 3,090,000 Southeast Asia 1. Study of economically important fruit flies in Malaysia and the development of control methods 400, Biology and control of fruit flies in Thailand and Malaysia 1,008,000 Total (undiscounted $ values) 1,408,000 (Over the past 10 years the value of the $A compared with the US$ has varied between $A1=US$0.75 and $A1=US$0.59) 3

4 B. PROJECT RESULTS AND IMPACT 1. Main results Detailed identifications and listings of fruit fly species are now available for seven South Pacific island nations, and data are currently being collected for PNG. The host fruit range of each species has also been ascertained. Good information is also available on the fruit flies of 14 other Pacific countries. Control practices have been introduced to achieve environmentally friendly, pre-harvest control of fruit flies in fields and orchards (mainly by bait spraying). Methodology and equipment have been developed for heat-treating brewery waste to produce effective and cheap fruit fly baits, for use by farmers for fruit fly control. Heat treatment units for postharvest disinfestation have been installed in Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands and New Caledonia (other countries now following), which have allowed exports of certain fruits and vegetables to resume to fruit fly-free countries like New Zealand, from which they had been banned for quarantine reasons. Country-wide strategies for fruit fly management have now been developed for each country of the region, including monitoring and emergency response procedures to deal with new incursions. A regional strategy to minimise further fruit fly movements, and incursions from other regions, has been developed for the whole South Pacific region including New Zealand and Australia. Two major pest fruit fly species have been eradicated from the island of Nauru, and two other species are now being targeted there. 2. Dissemination of the results Dissemination has been widely achieved through: Numerous training courses involving all countries Information leaflets, and through press and radio campaigns Preparation of detailed procedure manuals for all operations Making fruit fly baits produced by the Royal Tongan Brewery available (cheaply) to farmers through normal commercial channels 3. Impacts Fiji, Tonga and Cook Islands are exporting fruits to markets that were previously denied to them because of fruit flies; in the case of Fiji the value of the exports is about US$ 1.5 million per year. Quarantine authorities are now in a position to assess fruit fly risks accurately and to design appropriate strategies to minimise risk especially against the spread of the Asian Papaya fruit fly that has now invaded PNG. Farmers are now achieving better and cheaper fruit fly control than previously. Use of bait spraying, in which only tiny, targeted amounts of pesticide are used, replaces cover spraying that polluted the environment and killed non-target organisms including beneficial natural enemies of orchard pests. Brewery waste that was previously discharged into streams or the sea in Tonga, where it caused pollution of reefs, can now be used for practical purposes and need no longer be discharged. Islanders of Nauru under 30 years of age, who had never tasted local mangoes because all were destroyed by fruit flies, now have supplies of the fresh, healthy fruit. D. PARTNERSHIP 1. Respective roles of the different stakeholders and coordination mechanisms for: 4

5 Project Design The ACIAR projects on fruit fly identification and control in the Pacific region worked in collaboration with the separate AusAID/UNDP/FAO/SPC Regional Fruit Fly Project, but these were separately funded initiatives. The ACIAR projects were designed to dovetail with the RFFP. ACIAR does not undertake research itself. It commissions research groups in Australian institutions to carry out agricultural research projects in partnership with their counterparts in developing countries. Projects are designed in consultation with ACIAR by Australian and their developing country partner proponents following guidelines laid down by ACIAR. It welcomes ideas for new projects. Suggestions may come from individuals, research institutions or government organisations in developing countries or Australia. Others arise from ACIAR-sponsored workshops or from high-level consultations that are held on a three-yearly cycle with our major partner countries. All successful proposals must cover topics ranking highly among the research priorities of the developing country involved, and must be endorsed by the national authorities before they can be considered for approval by the ACIAR Board of Management. Preparation of projects involves extensive consultation between interested parties in both Australia and potential partner countries. Preliminary projects emerging from these consultations are presented to the ACIAR Board of Management for approval to proceed to the detailed development of project proposals. Fully developed proposals are assessed by ACIAR staff and submitted for peer review to independent expert referees before the ACIAR Board of Management considers the final proposal. In the case of the Pacific Region fruit fly projects, the request for the initial project came from the countries themselves, after hearing of the advances made in Malaysia and Thailand. Further projects were developed as a consequence of other Pacific countries seeing the value of progress among the countries initially involved. Project implementation The projects are implemented through contractual arrangements with the Australian commissioned organisation. The Australian project leader coordinates all research both within his or her own institution, and in collaborating institutions in developing countries and in Australia, and has responsibility for ensuring that the research is carried out as agreed with ACIAR. The Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI) and Griffith University have been the commissioned organisations for all projects to date, and Dr Dick Drew the project leader. Dr Drew moved from QDPI to Griffith University early in Project management Management of all projects on fruit fly identification and control in the Pacific Region has been carried out by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Griffith University under the leadership of Dr Dick Drew. ACIAR funds are provided direct to the commissioned organisation, which then disburses agreed amounts to the collaborating organisations in partner countries and Australia. The commissioned organisation receives project funds as two tranches each year, and these funds must be accounted for to ACIAR annually. The project leader must ensure that an annual report on progress is sent to ACIAR each year, and the final report must cover progress achieved throughout the length of the project. Projects are reviewed by an independent review panel during the latter part of their final year. This review panel recommends on whether the project has achieved its aims, and on whether the research and development should continue through further projects. 5

6 Results dissemination ACIAR s mandate requires it to commission research and development projects that allow demonstration of new technologies that have been developed. Direct extension of research results is outside its mandate and is the responsibility of the partner countries and institutions within projects. Extension projects may also be commissioned by AusAID, Australia s official development assistance agency. Because of this limitation to its mandate, ACIAR tries to ensure that all its projects identify who will be the likely users of any results, and also that they include utilisation plans, which show how the results should be provided to users. ACIAR s partnership mode by which it commissions research partnerships between Australian and counterpart researchers and institutions ensures that the developing countries have ownership of the results and a stake in their application. In the case of the fruit fly projects, all research and training has been carried out in close collaboration with the national agricultural authorities of each country involved, with the result that fruit fly control protocols and procedures have been developed and applied regionally, and trade protocols under which potentially infected produce may be shipped safely to fruit-fly-free markets negotiated. 2. Added value of the partnership None of the countries of Southeast Asia and the Pacific had the expertise to identify the fruit flies occurring within their countries, with the result that they were unable to develop control measures for those that are economically important. Bringing the expertise of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries together in partnership with government scientists and technicians in partner Pacific countries has brought about the situation that almost the entire taxonomy of tropical fruit flies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific will shortly have been elucidated, so that control measures can be planned. In addition the collaboration made it possible for inexpensive supplies of bait spray to be produced locally from the wastes of the local brewery in Tonga. The close collaboration between the ACIAR-sponsored research projects and the broader Regional Fruit Fly Project also ensured that knowledge gained from the research projects could be incorporated in regional trade protocols, and in regional control measures for fruit flies. In addition, although Australia was the original source of the expertise needed to clarify the very complex taxonomy, biology and control situation of tropical fruit flies across the Southeast Asia- Pacific region, the results have very much benefited all countries concerned. One independent study has estimated a return to Malaysia from the first project of $220 for each dollar invested. Another calculated that the Pacific projects were producing a 37% internal rate of return on the research investment. In Australia itself, there was an outbreak of the Asian Papaya fruit fly in October This pest has subsequently been eradicated, but this was only possible because the previous Southeast Asian projects had made it possible for Australian scientists to identify the species quickly and accurately and have advance knowledge of its biology, of systems for monitoring its presence and spread, and of how to eradicate it. Hence eradication plans were promptly and efficiently started. An independent analysis of the actual costs of the successful eradication campaign compared with the likely costs had this knowledge not been available concluded that Australia had also received the following benefits: a saving of $A0.76 million due to the reduced time taken to carry out a delimiting survey in the Cairns area of north Queensland following the outbreak of papaya fruit fly in 1995; a gain of $A5.03 million from the quicker recognition of papaya fruit fly eradication benefits among importing countries; 6

7 gains of around $A4 million per annum during the eradication campaign because Australia had continued access to premium fresh fruit export markets; gains of around $A0.3 million per annum because produce could still reach export markets rather than be redirected to lower priced domestic markets. D. CONCLUSION Next steps Survey and documentation of Papua New Guinea fruit flies continues A permanent mechanism for consultation between all Pacific and many Southeast Asian nations in relation to fruit fly quarantine issues, to ensure that the Regional Strategy against fruit fly movement is maintained (the only way to ensure sustainability), is to be established. While the partnerships of the donors will not be maintained because there will be no further need for them, the partnership of nations supporting the Regional Strategy will be maintained. 7

8 Lessons learned Establishing harmonious working relationships between all participants from all countries involved was essential to success. Giving all participants strong self-interest in the success of the fruit fly research and control program was a major contributor. Having a practical and hard-working overall manager of the program, who is also a good communicator, greatly contributed to the success if the program. Having a close and effective working relationship between the managers of the ACIAR projects and the RFFP was essential for ensuring that these two programs achieved maximum impact. Keeping the project activities simple and based on inexpensive practical work programs a lowtech but labour-intensive approach did much to ensure involvement of local staff and successful application. 8