​(Communicated by GPO/Efraim Roseman)

Thirty-three million sterile male flies were dropped this week from airplanes onto orchards and crops in southern Israel as part of a unique project to combat agricultural pests.
 
The neutered males will associate with the harmful female Mediterranean fruit fly, thus preventing the creation of a next generation.
 
The Ministry of Agriculture fruit fly project is being implemented by Bio-Bee, a bio-friendly pest control company from Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu. The effect of the project should be the minimization of the extensive damage typically caused by the fruit fly, but without the need to spray an estimated 33,000 liters of chemical pesticides. The sterile flies are part of a series of beneficial insects, including pollination bees and predatory insects and parasites that kill pests, being cultivated by Bio-Bee.
 
The flies are dispersed over an area of 35,000 dunams of orchards and other crops leading up to the border with the Gaza Strip. This bio-friendly method not only protects the environment and the people living in the surrounding communities, but also brings us one step closer to a standard of chemical free food.

The sterile flies are part of a series of beneficial insects being cultivated by Bio-Bee.