Stopping the fruit fly

Sant Martí Sarroca, El Penedés (Barcelona)

We are in the Casa Ametller fruit farm, here in the centre of Penedés. This is a former vineyard that was converted into a fruit-growing facility about 7 or 8 years ago.

Jordi Ametller, owner of Casa Ametller

We come from a long line of farmers - grandchildren, great-grandchildren of fruit growers, and a major part of our life has always been growing healthy, tasty produce. We are working in a market in which we harvest one day and sell the next, so we can offer something that very few people are in a position to do: we harvest the fruit at just the right moment, but that means we are very aware of what is happening to the fruit at all times, you know what I mean?

The fruit fly is one of the world's most destructive agricultural pests

The problem with the fruit fly is that it is one of the nastiest pests around. Because there's nothing worse than when one of our customers brings their fruit home and when they go to eat it a worm crawls out... disgusting, isn't it? It's hard to explain that it's only natural. A piece of fruit with a worm in it isn't just worth a little less, it's worth nothing - and on top of it, you lose the customer. 

It's almost impossible to fight against the fruit fly pest if you don't use massive trap systems, like these ones. 

Cera Trap® is a biological bait developed by Bioibérica specifically for trapping the medfly

The flies are attracted to the bait and climb into the trap through these little holes. Then they can't get out and end up falling in. The best thing about this system is that the insecticide that kills the pests never comes into contact with the fruit. Let's see. There are quite a few flies in here, look, can you see them?

Cera Trap® significantly reduces the medfly population and stops them damaging the fruit

Without the help of massive trapping for controlling the medfly, you could see trees like this; you could come one day and everything would be fine, and then 5 days later, 80% of the fruit would be ruined. 

Obviously some day we would like to see 100% efficacy with these systems, but in the meantime, while we haven't got 100% cover, it's clear that this is the best system for producing clean, pest-free fruit.