How Can I Help?
Queensland Fruit Fly comes into a region hidden inside fruit. The whole Yarra Valley is at risk.
Fruit fly damage is small on the fruit surface and really hard to see. The eggs and larvae are hidden under the skin, deep in the flesh.
Eat, cook or freeze ALL fruit & vegetables from fruit fly areas BEFORE bringing them into the Yarra Valley.
If you find suspect infested fruit – immediately freeze the fruit until it’s frozen solid, microwave it to destroy the larvae, or solarise it in a sealed plastic bag. Report this to the Regional Coordinator.
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I’m travelling into the Yarra Valley
Travelers should not to bring fresh produce into the Yarra Valley, especially from unverified sources.
- All fruit and veggies from fruit fly areas should be cooked or frozen before bringing it to the Yarra Valley
- Eat it, Bin it or Bag it – infested fruit should be destroyed (boil or freeze)
- Infested fruit is hard to see, carefully check inside for larvae or maggots
I’m a resident of the Yarra Valley
Unpicked or hanging ripe fruit is a huge QFF risk.
- Prune trees to a reachable height –fruit higher than this are hard to reach and pick and hard to net
- Pick all fruit as it ripens, ripe fruit is what the fruit fly is looking for to breed. Never let infested fruit drop in the ground.
- Pick up fallen fruit and bag it to solarise it (a strong sealed bag left in the hot sun) just incase it is infested with QFF larvae.
- If anyone brings fruit to your home – inspect it thoroughly in a safe location – with a bin near by. If suspicious, treat it immediately to destroy any larvae that might be hiding inside it.
- Infested fruit and vegetables need to be microwaved OR frozen before binning in a sealed bag to destroy any larvae.
- Never compost fruit you suspect has QFF – composting allows any living larvae to pupate and develop into the adult QFF
- Remove unwanted and unmanaged host plants – a host plant is anything that has fruit on it each year that can’t be picked – ornamental fruit trees too.
- If there is a QFF host plant near you on land that is managed by local council, Agriculture Victoria, Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water or VicRoads – report this to the relevant body or land manager to encourage the removal of this host plant.
- Encourage a collaborative effort with your neighbours to remove risk and share knowledge.
- In Queensland fruit fly regions exclusion nets and cover sprays are used alongside trapping and baiting programs – The Yarra Valley can avoid this expense and chemical use IF we keep our region fruit fly free.
I’m a commercial fruit & veggie producer in the Yarra Valley
- Practice good farm biosecurity and put measures in place to reduce risk
- Limit host fruit and vegies imported on to the farm, by your business, your labour force, and your visitors
- Know the origin of the produce – both the produce and the container from QFF areas are a high risk because the infestation is likely and also hard to see
- Install QFF monitoring trap(s), monitor weekly and share the results with neighbours, land managers, industry bodies, regional coordinator, agronomists, Agriculture Victoria.
- Remove potential host plants around the production area of the farm, i.e. fruit trees not in commercial production that are not managed, includes blackberries, cherry plums, peaches & nectarines, apricots & plums, figs, prickly pear, quinces, apples & pears, lemons & oranges and apples etc.
- Remove potential host plants near by – If you have a host plant near you on land that is managed by local council, Parks Vic/DWELP, Melbourne Water or Vicroads – report this to the relevant body or land manager to encourage the removal of this plant, or an appropriate management strategy
- Minimise, destroy or remove ripe fruit left on trees or ripe vegies left in the paddock that are waste fruit. Pest and disease build up can increase the pressure in the following year
- Take infested waste produce off farm away from the production and packing area for treatment and disposal
