How Can I Help?
The whole Yarra Valley is at risk if Queensland Fruit Fly comes to the region hidden in fruit.
Fruit fly Damage is really hard to see -the eggs and larvae are hidden under the skin. Eat, cook or freeze ALL fruit & vegetables 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.
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I’m travelling into the Yarra Valley
- The two messages here are:
- for travellers not to bring produce into the Yarra Valley and
- Fruit and veggies should be cooked or frozen if it is bought into a sensitive area like the Yarra Valley
- Eat it, Bin it or Bag it – fruit should be destroyed
- Infested fruit is hard to see
I’m a resident of the Yarra Valley
- Prune trees to a reachable height –fruit higher than this are hard to reach and pick – unpicked fruit is a huge risk
- Pick all fruit as it ripens, ripe fruit is what the fruit fly is looking for to breed
- Pick up dropped ripe fruit and bag it to solarise it
- If anyone brings fruit to your home – cook it or freeze it immediately to destroy any larvae that might be hiding inside it
- Infested fruit and veg needs to be microwaved or frozen before composting or binning to destroy any larvae
- Composting allows the larvae to pupate and develop into the adult QFF – best avoided!!!!
- Remove unwanted and unmanaged host plants – a host plant is anything that has fruit on it each year that can’t be picked – ornamental trees too
- If you have a host plant near you on land that is managed by local council, DEDJTR/DWELP or Melbourne Water or Vicroads – report this to the relevant body or land manager to encourage the removal of this plant
- Encourage a collaborative effort with your neighbours to remove risk and share knowledge
- In regions that have to manage Queensland fruit fly, expensive exclusion nets and protective sprays are used alongside trapping and baiting programs – we want to avoid this expense, and 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 and DEDJTR
- Remove potential host plants around the production area of the farm, ie fruit trees not in commercial production that are not managed, includes blackberries, prunus species, figs, prickly pear, quinces, citrus 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, DEDJTR/DWELP or 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 to be destroyed
