Un/Less

The oriental fruit fly is one of the most destructive crop pests in the world, causing $2.1 billion in damages annually and infesting over 400 different crops. Although its range is currently limited to Southeast Asia and some Pacific islands, their eggs can hide within commercial fruits, primarily mangoes, and travel overseas. Oriental fruit fly outbreaks happen in the U.S. each year, costing farmers and the government millions to contain. A permanent oriental fruit fly population in California alone would inflict $19.3 billion in market disruption and crop damage.
Un/Less is the combination of a novel egg-laying deterrent spray and plastic egg traps, together functioning as a chemical forcefield to ensure that fruit fly eggs are not laid in mangoes before export. With an affordable, nontoxic, and reusable design, mango farmers in Southeast Asia will be able to vastly diminish their fruit fly infestations each harvest season. In doing so, we will remove eggs from export and mitigate the international threat of the oriental fruit fly.