Tresco stone fruit grower Michael Tempini doesn’t want the fruit fly situation to become a “blame game”.
In response to an article that was published in The Guardian on Friday, Mr Tempini was hopeful the views relayed in the article won’t damage the community’s trust in the fruit fly trapping program.
The article quoted Castle Donnington hobby grower Rob Sonogan who lost 80 per cent of his apricots and 50 per cent of his blood plums to fruit flies and believes program is failing.
“The program has been working quite well in suppressing fruit fly numbers and has managed to keep numbers at a lower level compared to other towns and areas,” Mr Tempini said.
“This has always been a multi-faceted thing. It’s not just a few people in town who are responsible; rather, everyone needs to do the work.”
Mr Tempini is the stone fruit representative of the Greater Sunraysia Pest Free Area (GSPFA) Industry Development Committee and said fruit fly trapping was just one of many activities run by the committee.
“We are strapped for resources most of the time. Without the help of people in the community, we wouldn’t be able to manage the situation,” he said.
To read more about this story, grab a copy of Wednesday’s Guardian (January 18).
