Fruit growers in Sunraysia, Australia have expressed concern about the possible spread of fruit flies in the region, following the discovery of larvae at Griffith and Narrandera in the Riverina.
John Tesoriero of the Murray Valley Citrus Board said that maintining a fruit fly-free crop is important, particularly to orange growers exporting to Japan, and warned over brining fruit into the district from outside.
'We really need to enforce the message 'just don't do it,' he told ABC News. 'There are fines in place and we've got to protect our very important markets.'
In November, the Australian government released a proposal outlining how it planned tocontrol fruit fly, which is seen as a major threat to thecountry's A$6.9bn horticultural industry.
The proposal, called the National Fruit Fly Strategy, will see funding allocated for data collection and analysis to develop amanagement tool kit, a national diagnostic standard and pest datasheets.
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