KINGSTON, Jamaica — More than 100 new smart traps have been installed at Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) offices and ports of entry across the island.

The traps, which are expected to enhance the surveillance and monitoring of pests, target the Tomato Leafminer and Medfly, which are not yet in Jamaica.

Identifier/Entomologist in the Plant Quarantine Produce Inspection (PQPI) Unit in Kingston, Karen Barrett Christie, told JIS News that because these pests can devastate the agricultural sector, these proactive measures are crucial.

“Every RADA office in the country has a Medfly trap at their head office and we’ve done this so that we can get the RADA officers involved as part of our surveillance system. We want to ensure that the officers become familiar with the technology, so they too can interact with the traps,” she said.

“We want to put the traps in every parish within the country, but our focus is on our ports of entry, farming areas and markets, where we are bringing in exotic fruits and vegetables,” she added.

The insects can come in through the nation’s imports or from persons who smuggle commodities into the country.

With traps placed at strategic locations, if the Medfly or Tomato Leafminer comes in, they can be picked up almost immediately.

Barrett Christie said that working with farmers is critical to the successful use of the smart traps.

“We have partnered with our farmers as it relates to this trap, because the host for the Tomato Leafminer are things like tomatoes, peppers and potatoes, so those traps must go in a field. Especially for the Tomato Leafminer traps, we have strategically placed them in our tomato and pepper-growing areas,” she noted.

“For the Medfly traps, because the host range is much wider, we can put them in different areas. We’ve also put them close to our research location. Just like our paper traps, these smart traps are equipped with lures for the different insects. Although the traps for the Medfly and the Tomato Leafminer look different, it’s really the lure that attracts the pests to the trap,” Barrett Christie said.

Provided in partnership with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), the smart traps form part of an interactive system that provides real-time information through an app.

— JIS