United States Department of Agriculture photo by Stephen Ausmus. Australia is facing an increasing threat from one of the world’s most invasive pests. Six post-border detections have occurred in the current BMSB season (September to April) across Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia on a variety of imported cargo, from terracotta pots to tractors [...]
Northern Tasmania was officially reinstated as a Pest Free Area today, re-opening the door to domestic trade. Fruit Growers’ Tasmania, CEO, Stuart Burgess welcomed the positive news and thanked Tasmanian growers impacted by the exclusion zone. “There have been no fruit flies detected in Northern Tasmania over the past six months thanks to a collaborative [...]
Fruit flies cost Western Australia’s horticulture industry $10.2 million per annum in lost production and control measures so it’s little wonder scientists, growers and government are investing heavily to tackle the pest once and for all. Recently invited to view WA’s Sterile Insect Technology (SIT) facilities in Perth and Carnarvon, Victorian Goulburn Murray Valley Regional [...]
Led by Australia’s Plant Biosecurity Research Initiative (PBRI) and New Zealand’s Better Border Biosecurity (B3NZ) and cemented by a Memorandum of Understanding between Australia and New Zealand, a new joint initiative will focus on biosecurity Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) efforts at pre-border, border, and post-border stages. The initiative also aims to build capacity to [...]
Get familiar with the diversity of fruit flies worldwide with a new handbook and website that makes identification easier – hopefully aiding in the early detection of exotic pest incursions. Photo: Nick Woods, Plant Health Australia The business of sorting and identifying the thousands of tephritid ‘true’ fruit flies affecting a wide variety [...]
Apple and Pear Industry Update APAL has been advised that the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources will begin an import risk analysis for apples from the Pacific Northwest States (Oregon, Idaho and Washington) of the United States of America in November 2018. This is the result of a direct request by the US Government. [...]
Australia has a unique ecosystem, which allows for robust and vigorous plant life but also leaves it especially vulnerable to outside threats to stability. To defend against Biosecurity threats, Australia devotes considerable resources to maintain the ecosystem so all Australians can benefit. The report goes into detail about how our daily activities can contribute to [...]
The Emergency Plant Pest Response (EPPR) levy is in place to enable the funding of the apple and pear industry’s contribution to the cost of eradicating pests and diseases under the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD). This article aims to provide an update and overview of what specifically the EPPR levy now funds. The [...]
Biosecurity experts from Government, research and industry outlined options and challenges for strengthening biosecurity to protect the state's valuable pest free area status to growers at the annual Fruit Growers Tasmania conference. Fruit coming into Tasmania will come under much greater surveillance as industry and Government work together to ensure the state’s prized pest free [...]
Whether you know a little or a lot about Queensland Fruit Fly, a new website launched by the SITplus consortium is the essential place to get started on managing horticulture's most economically damaging pest. Release of sterile Queensland Fruit Flies (Qfly) will commence later this year under the SITplus release program to combat recent outbreaks [...]
