A note from the Manager

There has been considerable progress in recent months against key priority areas supporting delivery of the National Fruit Fly Strategy. These include the initiation of fruit fly hypothetical sessions to be held in Brisbane and Melbourne, as well as 15 workshops aimed at further developing a national approach to the fruit fly management system, convening of a series of Council working groups covering trade, research and extension and preparation of National Fruit Fly Implementation reports and future plans.

Plant Health Australia, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment, will conduct a ‘Fruit fly hypothetical’ in July 2022 to explore potential impacts to industry and trade if there was a change in Australia’s fruit fly distribution. The session will consider preparedness activities that could help minimise these impacts. 

NFFC meetings

The 29th meeting of the National Fruit Fly Council (NFFC) was held from 14 - 15 March 2022. Council members attended the meeting virtually.

Read more

On 15 June 2022, the NFFC attended a round table in Brisbane, Queensland. The Council met with researchers to further understand the research being conducted in the national system. This will guide a gap analysis to inform the Council’s areas of focus for next year.

NFFC fruit fly webinars attract worldwide interest

The National Fruit Fly Council recently hosted three online webinars with more than 360 attendees in total from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Tbilisi, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Punjab, Selangor, Sénégal, South Africa and Taiwan.

Fruit fly efforts recognised at Hort Connections

Congratulations to the Goulburn Murray Valley (GMV) Fruit Fly Area Wide Management Program and Peter Leach from the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF QLD) for winning awards at Hort Connections 2022 held in Brisbane earlier this month.

Ross Abberfield, GMV program coordinator, accepted the Visy Industry Impact Award in recogniton of the program’s important work in reducing the impact of fruit fly on the Australian horticultural industry.

Peter Leach, Principal Entomologist and Market Access Focus Team Leader at DAF QLD, won the coveted Bayer Researcher of the Year Award for his substantial contribution to horticulture research. He has led a significant portfolio of national market access disinfestation projects on fruit fly for over 25 years.

ICA21 changes

Following a national review, Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales have withdrawn acceptance of ICA-21 as an approved protocol for managing Queensland fruit fly in stone fruit effective from 1 April 2022.

The decision does not impact other commodities, with many states continuing to accept blueberries, pome fruit and persimmons certified in accordance with the ICA-21 protocol.

Alternative treatment options

These changes have a direct impact on the stone fruit industry. The following Qfly certification options are available for stone fruit producers intending to consign fruit into the market:

ICA-04: Fumigation with Methyl Bromide
ICA-07: Cold Treatment
ICA-55: Irradiation

Pilot program reduces fruit fly population in Cobram

The Hort Frontiers Fruit Fly Fund aims to control the fruit fly populations that impact the productivity of Australian horticulture industries. At the core of the Fruit Fly Fund is the ground-breaking $60 million SITplus partnership.

The SITplus program pulls together some of the world’s leading fruit fly experts and research organisations, to deliver an integrated solution to the management of Queensland Fruit Fly (Qfly). The SITplus initiative has been a particular success in Cobram, Victoria. The pilot program involved the weekly release of over two million sterile fruit flies over the township of Cobram and, in partnership with the area wide management program of the Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Fruit Fly Group, resulted in an 83 per cent reduction of fruit fly activity within the town.

The success of the trial in Cobram is largely due to the collaboration between research funded through the Hort Frontiers strategic partnership initiative and local efforts to curb the impact of fruit fly in the area.

The latest in fruit fly science

Virulence, penetration rate and reproductive potential of entomopathogenic nematodes from eastern Australia in Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni
Sitaram Aryal, Uffe N.Nielsen, Nanette H.Sumaya, Craig Wilson & Markus Riegler
Published February 2022 
Read publication

Methoprene treatment increases activity, starvation and desiccation risk of Queensland fruit fly
Saleh Mohammad Adnan, Iffat Farhana, Polychronis Rempoulakis & Phillip W.Taylor Published January 2022 
Read publication

Extended holding period and yeast hydrolysate in pre-release diet increase abundance of mature sterile Queensland fruit fly males in the field
Md. Jamil Hossain Biswas, Bishwo Mainali, Jess R. Inskeep, Sushil K. Gaire, Dominic Cross, Lloyd D. Stringer, Phillip W. Taylor & Polychronis Rempoulakis
Published January 2022 
Read publication

Fruit fly ID: Jarvis' fruit fly

Jarvis' fruit fly, bactrocera jarvisi, is considered a moderate pest in Queensland and the Northern Territory and is native to Australia.

Major commercial hosts include mango, guava, papaw, banana and peach. 

It is a medium-sized species with irregularly oval black facial spots, with postpronotal and notopluera yellow, connected by a broad yellow band.