12 Jul 6 scholarships for the training course – Advanced tools for the monitoring and identification of African fruit fly pests (Diptera, Tephritidae) 12-22
Frugivorous Tephritidae (also known as “true” fruit flies) are among the world’s worst agricultural pests, being of major economic importance in nearly all tropical, subtropical and temperate countries and causing enormous devastation to both food production and international trade, in spite of often intensive insecticide use. As horticultural commodities are a main source of income for small scale farmers, these flies severely contribute to poverty, malnutrition and poor production and trade in large areas of tropical developing countries, including Africa, impeding the development of lucrative and labour-intensive agroindustries in rural areas. Changing agricultural practices and novel demands for particular crops and international trade aggravates the problem through the introduction of exotic invasive pests.