Growing Fruit without Pesticides

  A modern initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture that allows farmers in the Hula Valley area to grow agricultural produce without spraying the fruit is currently in its initial stages.  What makes this project unique is that although the farmers do not spray the crops they do not have to cover the high costs incurred in finding alternative solutions to help them combat the damaging pests.  

 

  The farmers avoid the need for active pest control spraying by hanging bottles filled with a material called “Ceratrap” from the fruit trees. This naturally based material contains mostly protein to attract the flies and thereby prevent them from spoiling the fruit.  Additionally, instead of applying organic phosphorus materials to kill off the pests they disperse abundant traps strategically to cope with a wide range of pests: A bottle-shaped device against the Mediterranean fruit fly and a paper sheet hung on the tree that contains a pheromone against the anarsia lineatella moth are among the means employed.

 

    So far, the farms participating in this project succeeded in reducing the extent of chemical spraying by 50% to 100%.  The project initiated by the Galilee Development Company Ltd. was supported by special inspectors who monitor in real time which pests are present in the fields and based on these data a regional “pest map” is drafted.  Therefore, the farmer knows in advance which spraying sessions are unnecessary and which methods he can apply in the fight against the common pests, and all these goals may be achieved without having to call in crop dusting aircraft.