Prickly pears, pictured at a disused railway station, provide breeding habitat for Queensland fruit flies. Photo: supplied.
The Goulburn Murray Valley Fruit Fly Area Wide Management program is seeking community help to find and eradicate unmanaged feral fruit trees.
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Program co-ordinators are asking residents to report the location of unmanaged feral fruit trees if they come across them.
Queensland Fruit Flies are now established in Victoria, and thrive in feral trees on public land, such as roadsides, parks, railway lines, irrigation channels and more.
A feral olive tree pictured roadside, providing potential breeding grounds for fruit fly. Photo: supplied.
Fruit seedlings can be introduced into public areas through flooding, weather events, fauna, human movement and road, rail and water transportation.
Without management or eradication, seedlings can grow into fruiting plants, creating a breeding habitat for fruit flies.
Female fruit flies can lay up to 2000 eggs in their lifetimes, with offspring able to reproduce another generation of fruit fly within four to six weeks.
Unmanaged blackberries can grow in bushland. Their location can be reported for eradication to stem fruit fly habitat. Photo: supplied
The Goulburn Valley is the largest canned pear producer in the southern hemisphere, and the Murray Valley is the country’s largest stone fruit producer.
Each unmanaged fruit tree can increase financial pressures on fruit growers in the region, who manage fruit fly on their farms but can incur costs when controlling flies from public land.
The GMV Fruit Fly Area Wide Management program eradicated over 16,000 unmanaged fruit trees from roadsides alone over a 12-month period from November last year.
Program co-ordinators have urged anyone who spots unmanaged feral fruit trees while walking, riding or driving to note the location and report it by phoning 5832 5202or emailingfruitflycontrol@shepparton.vic.gov.au
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