RADIO waves are showing promise as an alternative to using ozone-depleting chemicals to destroy insect infestations in stored fruit and nuts.
These pests are currently dealt with using the cheap and effective chemical methyl bromide. But because methyl bromide damages the stratospheric ozone layer, its use in industrialised countries will be banned from the end of 2005 under the Montreal Protocol.
Insect pests such as the navel orange worm and Indian meal moth, which infest walnuts, almonds and pistachios, are killed if their body temperature rises to around 50 °C for as little as a couple of minutes. A team…
