Home gardeners and the broader community called on to help protect against Queensland fruit fly. If left unmanaged, the effects of Queensland fruit fly can be devastating.
The Goulburn Murray Valley Fruit Fly Area Wide Management Program brings together community, industry and government to apply a coordinated approach to the control of fruit fly. According to the program’s coordinator Ross Abberfield, we all have a role to play in the control of fruit fly, with community awareness and increased education critical in protecting the region against the pest.
The management and control of fruit fly requires continued action from home gardeners, property owners, commercial growers and the broader community.
“Unless Queensland fruit fly is effectively controlled the impact on Victorian exports, and our horticultural industry could be devastating with a whole of community effort required to stop the spread of fruit fly, which also impacts home grown fruit and vegetables,” Mr Abberfield said.
It is essential that anyone with a fruit tree or home veggie garden take a range of measures to help control fruit fly and its impacts on our region.
“There is no single action that will stop the spread of fruit fly, instead a range of simple and ongoing measures are required and we are asking home gardeners and the broader community to play an active role in coming together to protect against fruit fly,” Mr Abberfield said.
Fruit trees that are unmanaged or no longer wanted should be removed and replaced with non-fruiting options in order to reduce the number of potential breeding grounds. Property owners are encouraged to have unwanted fruit trees removed through the free Fruit Tree Removal Program available in Moira, Greater Shepparton, Strathbogie and Campaspe Shires.
“The removal of unwanted and unmanaged fruit trees has a disruptive effect on fruit fly habit, making it harder for populations to get a foot hold and build up,” Mr Abberfield said.
The community is also asked to keep an eye out for fruit on Crown land, creek or channel banks, abandoned orchards and roadsides and report fruit growing in these areas to the Regional Fruit Fly Office, by emailing gmvfruitfly@moira.vic.gov.au. Since the program’s inception in 2017 there have been more than 9,000 tree removals from private land, more than 11,000 removals from public land and more than 81,000 unmanaged orchard trees removed across the Goulburn Murray Valley.
Fruit fly can spread and grow in size extremely quickly so control strategies to reduce the impact and early action once fruit fly is detected is required.
“One mated female fruit fly can lay nearly 2,000 eggs from which up to 800 adult flies can emerge and 4-6 weeks after these eggs have been laid, they mature and go on to reproduce another generation of fruit flies and another and another,” he said.
“This fruit fly population explosion during November, December, January, February and March decimates backyard fruit and vegetables and can impact severely on commercial horticulture.”
Effective control measures include the use of netting and baits, along with picking fruit as it ripens rather than letting it sit on the tree or fall to the ground. It is important to visually inspect your home grown fruit and vegetables for signs of fruit fly, and use a simple fruit fly trap, that can be purchased at nurseries and home hardware stores or home made, to detect fruit fly activity in your garden or yard.
“We are asking the whole community to get involved and play an active role in the control and management of fruit fly,” Mr Abberfield said.
The Goulburn Murray Valley Fruit Fly Area Wide Management project coordinates a suite of control and management measures across the Goulburn Murray Valley region to stop the spread of fruit fly.
Program partners include Cobram and District Fruit Growers Association, Fruit Growers Victoria, Summerfruit Australia, Lions International and includes the council areas of Moira, Greater Shepparton, Strathbogie, Campaspe and Berrigan.
The Goulburn Murray Valley Fruit Fly Area Wide Management Program is supported by the Victorian Government. For more information on fruit fly control and management, visit www.fruitflycontrol.com.au.
