More than 3000 volunteers from Lions clubs, Rotary clubs, school children and other community group members have helped grower groups and local government reduce fruit fly in the Goulburn Murray Valley.
Goulburn Murray Valley Fruit Fly Project co-ordinator Ross Abberfield said the pest had the potential to wreak havoc in Victoria.
“Volunteer involvement in the Fruit Fly Area Wide Management Program has helped protect our horticulture-based lifestyle,” Mr Abberfield said.
“We would like to thank the project’s many and varied supporters for their contribution to protecting the region from the pest.”
He said fruit fly was a serious threat to the GMV's multi-million dollar horticultural industry and the region’s economy.
“If we are uninformed and divided in our efforts to control fruit fly, this pest will shelter and thrive in unmanaged habitat areas,” he said.
“Conversely, if we are informed and united in our efforts to control fruit fly it doesn’t have anywhere to hide and numbers can be reduced.”
The gross value of horticulture varieties grown in the GMV, which are considered hosts to fruit fly, is $415,000,000 annually.
The Goulburn Valley is the largest pear producer in the Southern Hemisphere and the Murray Valley is Australia’s largest stone fruit producer.
“The program has been highly successful in reducing fruit fly numbers in the GMV over the past four years, to date the program has removed over 100,000 unwanted and unmanaged fruit trees that would otherwise be a breeding ground for fruit fly,” Mr Abberfield said.
The multi-award winning program has galvanised the community, industry and government to work together to stop the catastrophic effects of fruit fly and is now recognised as a leader both nationally and internationally.
The program manages and monitors an extensive network of urban/peri-urban/rural and sterile fruit fly release trapping grids across the GMV to identify and monitor ‘hot spots.’
Data from these trapping grids provides the community, industry, government and research institutions with fruit fly activity data that enables the targeting of ‘hot spots’ together with regular communication of fruit fly trends and pressure patterns to update the community and industry.
“The combined communication, management and control strategies are critical to curbing the spread of Qfly and limiting the impact on our horticultural domestic and export markets,” Mr Abberfield said.
For more information on fruit fly control and management, visit www.fruitflycontrol.com.au
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