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ABOUT

FRUITFLY AFRICA

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FruitFly Africa (FFA) is an industry service company, owned and managed by the following stakeholders: HORTGRO (Pome & Stone), Canning Fruit Producers Association, Raisins SA, South African Table Grape Industry, Agricultural Research Council and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD)

FFA specialises in area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) of fruit flies of economic importance.

The programme includes the following critical practices:

  • Pest monitoring of commercial plantings & towns (and reporting to producers and stakeholders)
  • Production and release of sterile Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Ceratitis capitata) males, using the
  • Sterile Insect Technique
  • Hotspot management (including host plants and home gardens)
  • Ground baiting, including “attract and kill” bait stations
  • Coordinated aerial baiting, including strategic bait applications
  • Orchard sanitation
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The sterile insect technique is an integral part of this programme and involves the mass rearing of Mediterranean fruit flies (Ceratitis capitata – “Medflies”) and the release of these sterile male fruit flies into orchards and infested areas. The sterile males mate with females occurring in the wild and the eggs laid, are then infertile. The next generation of fruit flies is thus significantly reduced in an environmentally friendly, non-disruptive manner.

SIT is an ecological-friendly technique that is effective when used over large areas. In essence, SIT is birth control for insects.

It enables fruit producers and exporters to meet strict international sanitary and phytosanitary standards in order to retain existing export markets and qualify for entry into new markets.

Historically sterile insect technique was invented in the 1930s by E.F. Knipling in the United States. Knipling experimented with screw worm fly, a devastating scourge of cattle in North America. The first successful use of SIT to control screw worm was on the island of Curaçao in 1953.

Since then SIT has further been refined and developed for several insect pests mainly by the United States Department of Agriculture and the FAO/IAEA.

SIT has been developed to suppress or eradicate more than 20 insect pests, many of them being fruit flies and other fruit pests. There are at least 15 facilities around the world rearing Mediterranean fruit flies, and another 10 or so rearing other species of fruit flies. Production of sterile pupae varies from approximately 5 million per week to as many as 5 billion per week, the latter at the El Pino Facility in Guatemala.

SIT has many benefits including: reduced fruit production costs, increased volumes of air-freighted fruit, less likelihood of trade embargoes, international recognition, a decrease in use of pesticides, environmentally safe control, and eradication of fruit flies.

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OUR

VISION & MISSION

At FruitFly Africa our vision is: Ensuring Sustainable Agriculture

Our mission is to be the go to agricultural industry service provider for:

  • Sustainable solutions to enable fruit producers to comply with strict international quarantine pest requirements;
  • Providing area wide control measures, including pest monitoring, release of sterile male MedFly, aerial baiting, hot-spot management and communication, awareness, and educational programmes according to international best practices;
  • Ensuring pro-active, cost-effective bio-security early warning systems on various fruit pests on a statutory levy and/or user-pay basis;
  • Establish and maintain an industry-wide electronic database on fruit pests;
  • Representing the fruit industry on national and international forums to ensure access to a network of resources relating to risk mitigation.

OUR

TEAM

FruitFly Africa’s head office and main production facility is situated on the Helshoogte Road, Stellenbosch.

Contact us: 021 882 9541 or info@fruitfly.co.za

Ghian du Toit (Manager)
ghian@fruitfly.co.za

Eloise du Plessis (Administrative Officer)
eloise@fruitfly.co.za

Jerome Johnson (Production Manager)
jerome@fruitfly.co.za

Hilton Asia (Quality Control Officer)
hilton@fruitfly.co.za

Amy Collop (Monitoring Coordinator)
amy@fruitfly.co.za

Johan Claassen (Ceres Area Coordinator)
johan@fruitfly.co.za
0647521115

Ian Schaffers (Hex River Valley Area Coordinator)
ian@fruitfly.co.za
0647521123

Ettienne Malan (Elgin, Grabouw, Vyeboom Area Coordinator)
ettienne@fruitfly.co.za
0836940931

Marga-Ann Botha (Langkloof Area Coordinator)
marga-ann@fruitfly.co.za
0607287264

Wiebe Obbes (Orange River Area Coordinator)
wiebe@fruitfly.co.za
0829654701

Eddie Tlakedi (Olifants River Area Coordinator)
eddie@fruitfly.co.za
0647521111

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