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Residents in an 89-square-mile area are urged not to move homegrown fruits and vegetables.

Farm Press Staff

July 12, 2022

3 Min Read
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A female Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, lays eggs by inserting her ovipositor in the skin of a papaya.USDA ARS

California agriculture officials have imposed a quarantine in an 89-square-mile swath of Los Angeles County after 14 Oriental fruit flies in the San Fernando Valley.

Residents are urged not to move homegrown fruit and vegetables out of the area, which is bordered  on the north by the Angeles National Forest; on the south by the Ventura Freeway; on the west by Porter Ranch; and on the east by Hansen Dam Park. A link to quarantine information can be found here.

The state Department of Food and Agriculture advises that fruit and vegetables from the area may be consumed or processed on the property where they were picked, or disposed of by double bagging and placing in the regular trash, not green waste.

Following the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), agricultural officials use “male attractant” technique as the mainstay of the eradication effort for this invasive species.  This approach has successfully eliminated dozens of fruit fly infestations in California. 

Trained workers squirt a small patch of fruit fly attractant mixed with a very small dose of an organic pesticide, Spinosad, approximately 8-10 feet off the ground on street trees and similar surfaces; male fruit flies are attracted to the mixture and perish after consuming it.  The male attractant treatment program is being carried out over an area that extends 1.5 miles from each site where the oriental fruit flies were trapped. 

While fruit flies and other invasive species that threaten California’s crops and natural environment are sometimes detected in agricultural areas, the vast majority are found in urban and suburban communities. 

The most common pathway for these pests to enter the state is by “hitchhiking” in fruits and vegetables brought back illegally by travelers as they return from infested regions of the world or from packages of home grown produce from other countries sent to California. 

Help protect California’s agricultural and natural resources; Don’t Pack a Pest (www.dontpackapest.com) when traveling or mailing packages.

Crops at risk

The Oriental fruit fly is widespread throughout much of the mainland of southern Asia and neighboring islands, including Sri Lanka and Taiwan, and it is known to target over 230 different fruit, vegetable, and plant commodities.

Important California crops at risk include pome, stone fruits, citrus, dates, avocados, and many vegetables, particularly tomatoes and peppers.  Damage occurs when the female fruit fly lays her eggs inside the fruit. The eggs hatch into maggots, which tunnel through the flesh of the fruit, making it unfit for consumption. 

Federal, state, and county agricultural officials work year-round, 365 days a year, to prevent, deter, detect, and eliminate the threat of invasive species and diseases that can damage or destroy our agricultural products and natural environment. 

These efforts are aimed at keeping California’s natural environment and food supply plentiful, safe, and pest-free. 

Residents with questions about the project may call CDFA’s Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899.  Additional information may be found here.

Source: California Department of Food and Agriculture, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.

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