Mango season is here again. For FAO, the months leading up to the mango season have been full with activities to support mango farmers across the country (in Satkhira, Chapai Nawabganj, Bholahat, Bagha, Charghat, Godagari as well as Khagrachari and Rangamati). Working in close collaboration with the Hortex Foundation and the Department of Agriculture Extension, workshops on key control measures for pests, especially for fruit flies, and diseases were implemented with support from the FAO Food Safety Programme. This was followed up by training on field audits focusing on controls to prevent chemical and microbial contamination to ensure food safety and quality.

The training activities were complemented with the supply of intervention materials including mango harvesting tools, plastic crates, tarpaulins, refractometers, hot water treatment plants and pheromone traps. With wind direction playing a favorable role, using a pheromone trap can control pests in a mango orchard within a range of 25-30m. The FAO Food Safety Programme has distributed 150,000 traps in 25 upazilas for mango, brinjal and tomato. Each crop requires a different lure depending on the pest to be controlled. A lure typically lasts for 80 days. For crops that stay longer in the field such as brinjal, two lures are needed every season. The traps and lures are manufactured in Bangladesh and are inexpensive to procure. Case studies in brinjal have demonstrated that the use of these traps halve plant protection costs, result in produce with a better appearance which in turn fetches a higher price and augments farmer income. Insecticide residues are minimized and the produce becomes more acceptable to export markets such as the EU and North America (where there may be stringent standards for pesticides residues).

Pheromone traps are usually successful when used as part of an integrated approach to pest management (IPM). Sanitation, hygiene, inspection and removal of infested material are already parts of the 10 Controls approach developed and implemented by FAO through its food safety capacity building programme.

The Dutch funded FAO Food Safety Programme supports the creation of an efficient and well-functioning food safety control system in Bangladesh that can improve public health and enhance the trade in food commodities. The project is due to complete in December, 2018.

Media Link:

The Daily Star: Fruit bagging to ensure chemical-free mangoes