COUNCIL is urging locals fed up with fruit fly to keep calm and carry on with the trapping program rolled out in Swan Hill earlier this year.
Backyard fruit growers have come to The Guardian in recent weeks with concerns that infested trees have had to be stripped of fruit.
“I put traps on the trees as recommended but they turned out to be totally ineffective,” said local backyard grower Oscar Hinton.
“The fruit was affected 100 per cent with fruit fly and I felt a little bit put out… I was depending on them to control the infestation but it didn’t happen.”
But Swan Hill Rural City Council senior economic development officer Muriel Scholz said locals need to understand that combatting fruit fly is a long term process.
She cited the example of Hawaii, where a similar mass trapping program took five years to successfully suppress the fruit fly population.
In July Swan Hill became the first place in Australia to conduct a region-wide rollout of fruit fly traps but Ms Scholz stressed the traps are a tool, not a silver bullet solution.
She encouraged locals to monitor any backyard trees of their own and keep an eye on their neighbour’s.
“Management of trees is paramount,” she said.
“A fruit fly will always prefer a ripe fruit to a trap. If you strip your tree they will go for a trap.”
Horticulture manager at Swan Hill Chemicals Brian Cumming said trapping, not spraying, remained the best option for backyard growers.
“People in town seem to be getting some really good control with traps,” he said.
“Home gardeners don’t have chemical user certificates… they’re not qualified to be applying harmful pesticides.”
For more on this story, grab a copy of Monday’s Guardian (December 21).
