Agriculture: Bugged

The best of Spain's eating-olive crop is bugged. The pestiferous Dacus fly, or Dacus oleae—a kissin' cousin of the U.S. fruit fly—is nibbling its way through millions of gallons of plump Queen olives and slimmer, tarter Manzanillas. Seville and surrounding territory in western Andalusia produce 98% of the world's green eating olives, and the U.S. buys 75% of them. U.S. importers say that wholesale prices for Manzanillas have already risen 15%—from $34 to $39 per fanega (16 gal.). Queens are 50% more expensive—at $20 to $30 per fanega. But because of back stocks, retail customers will not have to pay more until September.

Olive oil will be in greater, rather than shorter supply. Olives for oil are grown all over Spain, and so far the Dacus has concentrated on the eating variety.

The anguish to martini drinkers of the world will not nearly equal that of Spain's olive farmers. So far, the Spanish government has announced no new plans to aid the industry, but olive growers have hopes for an ongoing fiveyear, $500,000 research campaign on some 50,000 trees in various blighted areas, which aims to outwit the Dacus fly with phosphorous compounds.