Israel has sent Croatia 380 million sterile flies to help reduce the population of fruit flies in that country’s citrus fruit orchards.
The flies’ canons were grown at the Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu BioBee lab and underwent a special sterilization process, at the plant’s radioactive facility, operating under the supervision of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission.
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After the flight to Split, Croatia, the radioactive flies were scattered along the border areas of Croatia and Bosnia, causing to the marginalization of the harmful flies in those orchards and helping local farmers reap a successful harvest.
The Bio-Fly project to combat fruit flies using natural, biological techniques in agriculture, has been a long-time success in Israel, operated with the help and support of the Israel Plant Protection Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Plant Council.
Twice a week, tens of millions of sterile flies are released in Israel’s plantations, orchards and fields, from the Arava dessert in the south to the Golan Heights on the Syrian border.
The goal is to minimize the use of pesticides in fruit fly eradication areas.
Israeli scientists are now analyzing the success of this project, looking to expand the idea to other agricultural areas.
