Provide technical insight to fruit fly programs in their effort to control fruit flies in north and central america

This Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), under the CFDA Program 10.025 "Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care", provides $217,160 in funding to support the work of Dr. Pedro Rendon, a leading global expert on fruit fly mass-rearing and sterile insect techniques (SIT).

The purpose of this award is to provide technical assistance and expertise to APHIS and state fruit fly control programs in North and Central America. Dr. Rendon will support fruit fly mass-rearing operations in Guatemala, as well as trapping and treatment activities, with the goal of improving the effectiveness of these programs. Expected outcomes include recommendations for new lures to improve trapping, procedures to optimize mass-reared fruit fly longevity, data for EPA registration of wax bait stations, and a final report summarizing the year's activities. This award supports APHIS's efforts to protect U.S. agriculture from economically damaging fruit fly pests.

The award supports the salary of DR. Pedro rendon, a leading global expert on fruit fly mass-rearing and SIT. DR. Rendon supports aphis programs by troubleshooting and supporting mexican fruit fly and mediterranean fruit fly mass-rearing operations in guatemala, as well as fruit fly trapping and treatment operations. For the performance period of this agreement, the expected outcomes include a recommendation for new lures that would improve trapping operations, a procedure for improving mass-reared fruit fly longevity through optimized microbial management of adult diets, data and documentation needed for wax bait station registration with the EPA, and a final report summarizing the year's activities. This project includes no subagreements beneficiaries will include USDA and state fruit fly detection programs by improvement and maintenance of aphis sterile insect technique programs and other fruit fly program operations.