FFA New Horizons

Fruit Fly Don't Bother Me
The Kohala, Hawaii FFA Chapter talces the
lead in ridding the islands of this pesky—
and costly—insect
By Jody E. Pollok
Fruit
flies are a major problem in exporting
fruit and vegetables from
Hawaii. The female fruit flies are
guilty of most of the damage done to
^the fruit. After mating with the male
' fly. the female goes in search of
fertile ground, usually fruit, to lay her
eggs. She lays about 30 eggs each
time she stings the fruit. Before
she is done, she will lay a total of
2.000 eggs that, once hatched, will de-
stroy the tropical produce.
Two years ago at the Hawaii state FFA
convention, delegates identified this problem
as one that not only hurt their agricul-
tural industry, but affected the state's entire
economy. The first step toward a solution
to the problem came in the form of a statewide
Building Our American Communi-
ties (BOAC) project.
The goal of the project is eliminating
the female fruit fly of the three different
species of fruit flies found on the islands.
The climate of Hawaii supports the Medi-
terranean fruit fly which came in the early
1 800s. the Oriental fruit fly which came in
the late 1800s and the melon fly which
also arrived in the late 1800s.
The Kohala FFA Chapter was the first
to get involved with the project. "We de-
cided to start off with the pilot project
so hopefully other chapters would
catch on." said chapter member Bruce
Gushiken.
"We chose fruit fly eradication
because Hawaii wants to have a L
(thriving) trade, especially in agriculture.
We try to export many fruits and vege-
tables such as mangos and avocados, but
the fruit lly stings the fruit, infects it. thus
making it undesirable and unfit for exportation,"
said Gushiken.
Tht 'irstStep
Beginning a pi ' of this size is no
easy task. "First of lu: , e organized our
chapter. We discussea undertaking the
32
.
project to see if the members
were willing to give their time
to the activities," Gushiken said. "We
went with our chapter advisor. Mr. David
Fuertes to various sessions with the University
of Hawaii which has a lab on
tropical agriculture."
After learning about the fruit fly, the
FFA demonstration team presented the
information to local groups within the
community and to school classrooms. In
their presentations, the Kohala FFA chap-
ter tries to educate
community ^^^^^^^^^^_
members and ele-
mentary school
students about the
problems caused
by fruit flies in
Hawaii.
FFA members
were surprised by
the response they
received from
community
members. "They
were very inspired
that the
younger genera-
tion was so will-
ing to put in theirtime to help out the com-
/ munity. They were also enthusiastic
because many of our community members
have their own gardens where
^ they raise their own fruits and vege-
tables," added Gushiken.
Building a Better Fly Trap
Preventing the fruit from being stung
by the fruit flies is challenging. FFA mem-
bers from Kohala are working on traps to
catch the fruit flies to limit their numbers.
The traps are made of materials found
around the house so that anyone can make
them.
Along with constructing the traps, the
Kohala FFA members empty the traps
The bottom line of this
fruit fly eradication program
is that it will open
up many markets for the
agricultural products
that we grow but cannot
be exported at this time.
and tally their results. "We mark the bottles
before ever distributing them. We give
them different marks depending upon their
location. After three weeks we collect the
traps and count how many flies are in
them. We compare the data from different
areas to figure out where the greatest concentration
of fruit flies is, " said Gushiken.
The chapter continues to work with the
University of Hawaii at Hilo to be aware
of new technologies that are being researched
for eradicating the fruit flies. As
new technologies
^^^^^^^^^^ are being discovered.
the chapter is
working to broaden
the program across
the entire state.
Kohala FFA advisor.
David Fu-
ertes said, "We are
hosting a workshop
in which two
members per chap-
ter will attend to
learn more about
the project so they
too can become involved.
Wehopeto
implement our program
state-wide by next year."
Once the eradication program takes
hold throughout the state, there is ex-
pected to be a drastic rise in the amount of
produce exported from Hawaii. "The
bottom line of this fruit fly eradication
program is that if something can be done,
it will open up many markets for the agri-
cultural products that we grow but cannot
be exported at this time." said Terence
Moniz.Ka'u "
.^ / FFA advisor. •••
Oriental Fruit Fly (enlarged)
FFA New Horizons