A research team from the Alexander von Humboldt Tropical Medicine Institute in Lima, Peru, has developed an innovative and low cost approach to making [Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis] (Bti) available cheaply in communities where malaria is endemic. The technology focused on using locally available coconuts to grow the biological insecticide. Research demonstrated that coconut water was a good culture medium for Bti. The research team demonstrated that whole coconuts could be inoculated directly with Bti and that laboratory conditions were not necessary. This opened the door to implementing the strategy in the field. Research has shown that two or three inoculated coconuts produce enough Bti to maintain a small, shallow pond free of mosquito larvae for 45 days. A prototype kit for inoculating coconuts was devised. The success of the first phase of this project has raised the interest of Peru's Ministry of Health. The Ministry is looking at using this technology within the national primary health care system.