The olive fly is one of the main threats to the quality of olive oil, so research in this field is essential to minimize damage to harvests.
FruitFlyNet-ii came about to perfect a prototype trap for this insect, in order to be able to capture and identify it through photographs taken daily. It is a model that, through the implementation of two electronic traps, one for the olive fly (Bactrocera oleae) and the other for the fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata), seeks to solve the problem of these two Mediterranean pests.
Dr. Enrique Quesada Moraga, the head of the AGR 163 Agricultural Entomology research group and a professor in the María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence at the University of Córdoba’s Department of Agronomy (DAUCO), will work together with professors Dr. Inmaculada Garrido Jurado and Dr. Meelad Yousef Yousef on the validation of this system in large olive growing areas, through the establishment of a zone where field data on the operation of the trap will be collected.
The researchers stress that this system reduces human intervention and represents a revolution in the sector, as thousands of hectares of olive fly populations are monitored from a central office. They also emphasized that it not only acts as a monitoring system, but also a health alert one.
In addition to the challenge of participating in an international project at a time like the present, during which the pandemic is affecting all research activity, the UCO team must deal with the challenges of natural conditions on a project like this: shifting weather, natural changes in the field, and the evolution of the fly populations.
In any case, for the team, participating in the European FruitFlyNet-ii project represents an internationalization opportunity, as it is a project with great practical applications, and a novel one too, due to its scientific/technical and managerial nature.
More information is available at the following link: http://www.enicbcmed.eu/projects/fruitflynet-ii
The FruitFlyNet-ii project, “Commercialization of an Automated Monitoring and Control System against the Olive and Med Fruit Flies of the Mediterranean Region.” (ENI-CBCMED-2019-B_A.2.1_0043) is funded by the European Union through the ENI-CBCMED-2019 “Call for Strategic Projects” call.
"This report is part of the project “CONSOLIDA-UCO ECT2020-000810", funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by European Union “Next Generation EU”/PRTR”.