Office of International Programs University of Florida Office of the Vice President for Agriculture
 and Natural Resources P.O. Box 110282 Gainesville, FL 32611-0282





 MS DALE B CANELAS UNI LIBRA & DIR DIR-LIBRARIES PO BOX 117001 GAINESVILLE FL 32611-7001


Technique for fruit fly control introduced in Caribbean


The West Indian fruit fly, a pest I that once devastated Florida fruit, has become a significant pest in St. Kitts and Nevis. The fruit fly's destruction of
tropical fruits
such as guava
and mango is
particularly
significant as
these countries
seek to develop their fruit export Liburd markets.
 Oscar Liburd, a UF/IFAS fruit
integrated pest management specialist, is introducing and evaluating a control strategy developed at the Fruit and Vegetable IPM laboratory in the entomology and nematology. The technique involves a low-risk insecticide-treated sphere that provides a safer way to control fruit flies without using conventional


broad-spectrum toxic insecticides.
 Fruit flies are visually attracted to these fruit-mimic spheres for feeding. When the flies feed on the sucrose surface of the sphere they ingest a low-risk biological insecticide that prevents them from reproducing.
 Liburd will travel to St. Kitts and Nevis in May to monitor on-going


experiments.
 A USDA-Pest Management
Alternative grant funds the project.
 The West Indian fruit fly was discovered in Florida in 1930 and eradicated.
 Contact
Oscar Liburd, oeliburd@ifas.ufl.edu)


UF/IFAS-CIAT distance education gets grant


A proposal to link UF/IFAS and
 CIAT through a distance learning class in participatory approaches to agriculture and natural resources has gained support through an Internationalizing the Curriculum award.
 The award, $3,000 from the UF International Center, will support agricultural education and communication researcher Nick Place's work in developing and implementing the course Managing Innovation; a Collaborative Course between the University of


Florida and CIAT in Colombia.
 The course will create linkages between UF students and other countries. The partnering instructor, Jacqueline A. Ashby, director of Rural Innovation Institute at CIAT the International Center for Tropical Agriculture is recognized as an expert on this topic.

 Contact


Nick Place, nplace@ufl.edu

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