The Australian table grape season has been dealt a new blow with the detection of a Queensland fruit fly near Mildura 10 days ago.
Already struggling from the lingering effect of a November heatwave that has affected quality on early-season varieties, the discovery of the pest was the last thing the industry needed.
But as Jeff Scott, chief executive of the Australian Table Grape Association, told Fruitnet.com, the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has been considerate of growers in implementing their management plan.
"I think we've come up with a resolution that's going to be suitable for growers but it could have been disastrous," he said.
Under the plan, a 15km-radius exclusion zone has been set up around Mildura, with all fruit moved within that area requiring certification that it is fruit fly free.
These measures only apply to fruit to be sold domestically between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
All fruit moved to South Australia would have to be cold treated for fruit fly, as would any fruit bound for export markets, under Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) guidelines.
Mr Scott explains that the Victorian DPI has allowed growers to self-inspect their fruit.
Growers within the 15km zone must inspect two per cent, or 600 bunches, of each day's packout and sign a plant health declaration with every consignment.
"The DPI will be accrediting growers to self-inspect their fruit under their own business approval number, so it's important that growers adhere to these emergency procedures," Mr Scott said.
He added that the detection had already caused big problems for some growers within the 15km radius who had plans to export their fruit.
"There are a couple of big players within that inspection zone that have been knocked out. Sure they can cold treat their fruit, but by the time they've done that they've lost the market," he said.
Mr Scott believes it's not all doom and gloom for the table grape industry however, with late season varieties looking good for quality and, crucially, no more detections of fruit fly since the initial sighting.
"It's been nearly two weeks since the detection and thankfully there's been no detections since. Based on that the measures should be lifted at the end of the suspension period.
"From all accounts, people are saying Crimson and Red Globe are looking reasonably good, and they're our main export varieties. So hopefully it's going to be quite good," he said.
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