Learning to Live With Medflies

It has almost become routine: Another matter-of-fact round of Medfly spraying in the Los Angeles area, with the usual cautionary reminders to keep pets indoors, cars covered and windows shut. There is no doubt that eradication of the pest that threatens the state’s $1.5-billion annual fruit crop is vital. But after 5 months of regular spraying--without success so far--state officials must start planning to live with Medfly, like it or not.

Some respected entomologists are now suggesting that the Medfly already may have become entrenched in Southern California. Scientists cite several reasons for this, including the region’s warm weather which makes for a more fertile Medfly breeding environment. Yet the state currently has no long-term contingency plan for how to cope with the pest over an extended period.

Its one-track strategy of eradication has been understandable. The possibility that it could face a fruit embargo, which in 1981 cost agriculture $100 million, is almost an unthinkable horror to the farming community and the state economy. But given the persistence of the Southland’s Medfly threat, it seems foolish for state and county officials not to at least start asking, “What if?” and making plans. Just what sort of treatment and damage control measures should we take if it turns out that the Medfly is indeed a permanent Southern California resident?

The other major concern of some scientists is the effect the regular malathion spraying might have on the local environment. The current infestation is expected to require up to a dozen doses of spray over some 300 square miles in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Citing studies from the 1981 Northern and Central Valley outbreak--which spread over a larger but less densely populated area--agriculture officials say they are confident that spraying does not cause adverse health effects. But county and state officials need to make sure their dismissal of health concerns is not merely a defensive stance, but based on solid information. So monitoring of health effects, like that being conducted by Los Angeles school officials, is crucial. According to UC Berkeley entomologist Donald Dahlsten, pesticide studies conducted in Northern California would not necessarily yield the same answers down here.

Many scientists and agricultural experts are confident that the current efforts to rid Southern California of the Medfly will work by spring. We hope so. But state officials must prepare for alternatives--even ones that are unpleasant.