Radio Frequency Puts the Heat on Plant Pests

To prevent influx of pests that could create agricultural problems, produce-importing nations enforce strict rules --depending on the commodity and the infesting insect. The rules often require vulnerable produce to be treated in some way that ensures destruction of pests.

For several decades, methyl bromide has been a mainstay treatment to kill a wide array of quarantined pests as well as those encountered in orchards, packinghouses, and food plants. But this potent chemical fumigant is being phased out because of evidence linking it to damage to Earth's ozone layer.