A scientist dissects an orange infested with med flies that has been collected for study at the Med Fly Rearing and Sterilization Laboratory in Metapa. - - Mediterranean Fruit Fly Eradication Programme. Southern Mexico has suffered terrible destruction of fruit and vegetable crops from the Mediterranean fruit fly (med fly) and in 1977, established a joint Mexico-U.S. Department of Agriculture Programme to eradicate the pest, assisted by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other international agencies. The technique of "swamping" the med fly population with sterilized males was developed by U.S. scientists and furthered by the Division of Isotope and Radiation Applications of Atomic Energy, overseen jointly by FAO and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). These agencies helped establish a laboratory for mass rearing and sterilizing over 500 million good quality med flies a week, which is located at Metapa in Chiapas. The programme has also conducted studies to determine the centres of med fly infestation and analyze their avenues to orchards and farms.