LARKANA: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) has urged the provincial government and the agriculture department to launch a special emergency support programme to protect guava orchards in Larkana and surrounding areas from fruit fly infestation.
In a statement, SCA Larkana division president Siraj-ul-Oliya Rashdi demanded that growers be supplied with free pheromone traps and other scientifically approved lures to control the pest effectively.
He said guava was a key part of Larkana’s agricultural identity and local economy, with orchards covering roughly 10,000 hectares in the district and its surroundings and providing livelihoods to thousands of growers and farm labourers. However, rising fruit fly attacks were causing serious damage to yields, fruit quality and growers’ incomes.
The chamber said fruit fly destroyed up to 90 per cent of the fruit in summer, while 30 to 35 per cent of the winter crop was also affected. The situation had pushed growers into severe financial hardship, with rising costs of fertiliser, pesticides, labour, irrigation and other inputs adding to their woes.
Mr Rashdi pointed out that modern, environment-friendly methods had delivered results against the pest in the past. About five years ago, the Sindh Irrigated Agriculture Productivity Enhancement Project (SIAPP), with the World Bank support, launched an initiative that introduced biological control methods with the assistance of the international organisation Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI).
Under the project, efforts were made to curb the pest’s reproduction through beneficial predators and parasitoids, which helped reduce fruit fly pressure and improve yield and quality.
Progress was also made in reducing reliance on chemical pesticides. However, the activities could not be sustained after the project ended, and the problem flared up again, leaving growers with heavy losses.
The chamber urged the government and the agriculture department to distribute free pheromone traps in all major guava-growing areas in and around Larkana. Scientifically approved lure traps and other effective methods suited to the relevant fruit fly species should be used to limit the pest’s reproduction and spread, it said.
Drawing on SIAPP’s experience, a biological control programme based on beneficial predators and parasitoids should be restarted to establish a sustainable, eco-friendly system against the pest, Mr Rashdi said. The programme should provide free traps, technical assistance, training and guidance on modern control methods, he added.
He said integrated pest management (IPM) should be promoted to reduce indiscriminate pesticide use, protect human health and the environment, and ensure consumers had access to safe, quality fruit.
The SCA also proposed that a team of experts from the Sindh agriculture department be formed to survey orchards, identify affected areas, assess the severity of the infestation and begin practical control measures before the fruit-ripening season.
The chamber said Larkana’s guava growers were already struggling with rising production costs and uncertainty in the agricultural market. Mr Rashdi expressed the belief that timely government action, including free traps, modern scientific facilities and support for biological control, could significantly reduce fruit losses, improve incomes and strengthen the agricultural economy. He called for the measures to be in place before the coming fruit season.
Protecting guava orchards, the chamber said, was not merely a matter of growers’ economic interests but was directly linked to the division’s agricultural identity, rural livelihoods, environmental protection and the supply of safe food.
Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2026
