New Technique Successful in Combating Tsetse Fly, Says FAO

With nearly 10 million square kilometres of Africa infested by tsetse fly, a new method, the sterile insect technique, has proved successful in combating tsetse fly especially when used in combination with traditional methods such as traps and insecticides. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on 10 May, that the technique, whereby male flies are sterilised through radiation and then released into the tsetse-infested areas where they mate, brings down the reproductive rate of the whole population leading to extinction.