SIT=Sterile Insect Technique, using radiation on certain insects to sterilize them so that they cannot reproduce, then releasing them into the target areas. Eventually, the population dies off. At least, that’s how I understand it.
Used quite often, one example given was Australia’s $600 million per year fruit industry that was being devastated by fruit flies. Instead of massive pesticide saturation, they opted for SIT and today…voila! It’s all good.
Australia’s US$600-million-a-year fruit trade often suffered massive losses due to fruit fly infestations. However, the country has been able to keep the invasive insects under control by use of Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). SIT uses nuclear radiation to sterilise millions of laboratory reared fruit flies which are then released in the affected region to mate with the wild flies. Because the irradiated flies cannot produce off spring to replenish the numbers, the overall population starts to decline as members die off. The irradiated insects are harmless to humans and animals from a radioactive perspective in that the treatment only affects their ability to reproduce and does not make them radioactive.
