In early May, in Vacaria (RS), Brazil entered in the history of world production of apple and pear. On May 5, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, Neri Geller, signed the official declaration of moth Cydia pomonella eradication of the country, which became the first insect-pest to be eradicated in Brazil. "This is an important achievement of the Brazilian Vegetable Sanitary Defense. This is the eradication of a severe pest that affects many countries, such as Uruguay, United States and Argentina", said Geller. "It is the first time a country eradicates Cydia in the world", adds the technical coordinator of the National Program for the Eradication of Cydia pomonella, Adalecio Kovaleski, a researcher at Embrapa Grapes & Wine. The claim of the pomiculture sector is now establishing "phytosanitary requirements technically feasible for the imported fruit not reenter the pest and get back to having the Cydia 'sleeping under our bed'", says the executive director of the Brazilian Association of Apple Producers (ABPM), Moisés Lopes de Albuquerque. Overlooking this problem, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) should review these phytosanitary requirements for exporters of products considered hosts of this pest and to prepare a contingency plan. In addition, other measures necessary for the maintenance of the status recognition of eradicated pest in the country will be taken. One precaution that could be taken is to authorize imports of fruit only from areas of low pest prevalence. However, the determination of phytosanitary measures like this one is an assignment to the National Programme of Eradication of Cydia commission, linked to MAPA. Less insecticides in farming Cydia, known as codling moth, is one of the most damaging pest of apple and pear in the world. It can decimate entire orchards if left unchecked and imposes losses estimated at US$ 400 per hectare. If it settled down in Brazil, the estimated loss would be around US$40 million per year only in the production of apples. For the control, it is required 10-15 insecticide applications during the season. In other words, the eradication of Cydia pomonella means less environmental impact and less risk of contamination and allowing the project, for the Brazilian pomiculture sector, the gaining of even more market spaces. It is estimated that Brazil will save about R$40 million a year in pesticides focused on the plague. Note that only R$ 10 million were invested in the eradication of the insect program. Besides apple, conquest benefits many other crops attacked by Cydia pomonella, such as pear, quince and European walnut. Stone fruits such as peach, plum, apricot, cherry and nectarine are alternative or secondary hosts. In technical meeting with representatives and producers of pomiculture sector that preceded the signing of the declaration of eradication, minister Geller encouraged Embrapa to continue working to combat another threat to Brazilian fruit, the Anastrepha fraterculus, known as fruit fly. He assured the availability of resources needed to research ways to deal with this pest. "The fruit fly causes great harm not only to pomiculture in Vacaria, but throughout Brazil", said the President of the Vacariense Coopearative of Joint Wheat Cropping (Cooperval ), Ângelo Pegoraro, who is also producer of apples. Social mobilization to achieve the eradication Cydia pomonella was detected in the country for the first time in 1991 and the last capture was in November 2011. According to the International Convention for the Protection of Plants, the productive areas can be declared free of the pest after two years since the last identified occurrence. The pest was introduced from an infested fruit from abroad and marketed in urban areas, according to the technical coordinator of the National Eradication Program, Adalecio Kovaleski. "In them, Cydia found a host (species which it can develop) precisely because they are non-commercial plants, that is, those ones that did not receive proper care in management", he explains. Among the measures undertaken by MAPA, through the Program, there were the installation and monitoring of over ten thousand traps a year deployed in urban areas and commercial orchards. In the 1997/1998 crop year, approximately 22,500 pest insects were captured in urban areas of Lages, Santa Catarina, Vacaria, Caxias do Sul and Bom Jesus, in Rio Grande do Sul. During the period of the Eradication Program, more than 100,000 host plants were removed from urban areas of the four counties. Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina represent 95% of the national production of apples. In Lages, Vacaria, Caxias do Sul and Bom Jesus, a work was conducted for the removal and replacement of host plants like apple, pear, quince, European walnut, peach, plum and nectarine. The owners, by agreeing to participate in the program, received in exchange for uprooted plants the same amount of non-host plant species, such as kiwi tree, vine, citrus and specimens of native fruits, Brazilian cherry, guabiroba and guava. "It is worth noting the involvement of MAPA, Embrapa Grapes & Wine, the Brazilian Association of Apple Producers (ABPM), Gaucho Association of Apple Producers (Agapomi), Integrated Agricultural Development Company of Santa Catarina (Cidasc), state departments of Agriculture of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná, public offices and agriculture departments of the municipalities involved in the eradication", recalls Adalecio Kovaleski. The eradication of Cydia, therefore, was a victory for the country built by various segments of Brazilian society.