Sterile insect technique

[jingle] Autre avancée maintenant pour protéger les cultures mauriciennes.

Le ministère de l'agroindustrie a lancé ce mercredi à Réduit le programme Sterile Insect Technique.

Le procédé consiste à stériliser les mouches des fruits grâce aux rayons X avant de les relâcher dans la nature afin de réduire leur population.

Pour le ministre de l'agroindustrie, Arvind Bouleel, cette initiative permettra de protéger les cultures et de réduire l'usage des pesticides.

It was a remarkable achievement.

Edward's method became known as the sterile insect technique.

After it proved successful on Curaçao, the program expanded to Florida, where screwworms were eradicated from the southeastern United States before in 1962 moving on to Texas and the Southwest.

Within the last decade, once the pupae developed, huge numbers of sterile male flies were dropped over infested areas to mate with female flies.

But despite the success, not everyone was convinced.

When outbreaks flared in the 1970s, critics began to question whether the program could ever work on such a vast scale.

The program continued, and the sterile insect technique was soon being used against more than just screwworms.

Now it's been successful against the Mediterranean fruit fly and other tropical fruit flies.