Rather than continue to back local projects to fight Queensland fruit fly, a focus has been placed on exotic fruit fly research instead.
Cobram and District Fruit Growers Association general manager Karen Abberfield said the strategy meant funding lifelines to initiatives such as the Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Fruit Fly Project would be severed.
“The Victorian Government have put out their 2021-25 strategy which focuses specifically on exotic species of fruit fly,” she said.
“In the Goulburn Murray region and right across the eastern seaboard we have the Queensland fruit fly — it is now considered an established pest.
“The Victorian Government’s 2021-25 strategy now classifies the management of established pests as the responsibility of local government, industries and communities.”
This plan leaves Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Fruit Fly Project in the lurch — both financially and expertise-wise.
While growers in Cobram are well supported by the community, Mrs Abberfield said they could only do so much without state government assistance.
“The community uptake in this fight has been phenomenal,” she said.
“Through the Lions Club, we have around 3000 volunteers across the region which help us out — if we paid them $20 an hour, that equates to $1.4 million each year.
“However, the reason we want the state government to continue providing support is the levels of credibility and monetary assistance involved in helping to maintain this pest.”
Maintaining the pest is what the Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Fruit Fly Project has done.
It has seen an 83 per cent reduction in Queensland fruit fly numbers in Cobram, adding to a 60 per cent drop in the Goulburn Murray Valley region since 2017.
“Our local Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Fruit Fly Project has done a fantastic job in reducing Queensland fruit fly numbers,” Mrs Abberfield said.
“But if we don’t continue to fight it, numbers will only drive up again.”
Cobram and District Fruit Growers Association president Tony Siciliano also voiced his concern with the funding change.
While understanding the need for exotic species to be targeted, he prioritised the threat posed by the Queensland fruit fly — a threat which grows increasingly prevalent as the picking season ramps up.
“Given the ongoing economic significance of Queensland fruit fly, the CDFGA does not support the focus on exotic fruit fly if it is at the cost of funding and support to the existing problem through the Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Fruit Fly project,” Mr Siciliano said.
“Our view is that it is essential to maintain the focus on the existing Queensland fruit fly threat as the highest priority; this needs to be done in tandem with consideration of exotics, however we need a focus on both rather than one or the other.
“Pest control is crucial to the success or failure of our industry, the chance to comment on the strategy is welcome, however now that picking is under way our entire industry has turned its focus to the necessary practical matters of harvesting and selling fruit.”
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