ORGANISERS are finalising plans for a second round of the Swan Hill region fruit fly trap roll-out, as results from the first round have been described as “sensational”.
It has been four months since the Greater Sunraysia Pest Free Area (GSPFA) committee started rolling out fruit fly baiting traps in an Australian-first campaign in Swan Hill, to hit population numbers while they were down during winter.
Since then, the traps have been distributed as far out as in Koondrook/Barham, Robinvale and across Sunraysia — an estimated total of approximately 26,500 households.
GSPFA committee member and Lake Boga stonefruit grower Joelle Williams said the program has been largely successful so far, thanks to the positive uptake from locals.
“The results were fantastic, the numbers in Swan Hill were absolutely sensational and we’re really happy with the results of the first round,” Ms Williams said.
“We’ve only been catching things on the outside of town, not in the middle, so the results couldn’t have been better — it was more than we expected from one round.”
Ms Williams said they were aiming to do a second round for the Swan Hill region, hopefully on the November 7 and 8 weekend.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of Monday’s Guardian (October 26).
