Controlling fruit fly has become a major focus on the 500 hectares of citrus orchards of the Nutrano Produce Group in the Sunraysia region at Mildura.
The company’s Sunwest farm manager Thomas Braybrook said Queensland fruit fly wasn’t something they were too concerned about in the past, but in recent years it had gone to the top of their list.
“Last summer wasn’t too hot and this winter hasn’t been really cold, and they are finding a lot of flies in traps,” he said.
“I spoke to a local industry bloke and quizzed him about what he was finding in traps. He said this is the highest number of flies found at this time of the year. We need to start talking about it because it's one of those things that can really hurt the industry.
“As an industry as a whole, we all need to be on top of it. Unless everyone jumps on board, it's going to be really hard to beat. It's on the radar and we all need to band together and fight it together."
Mr Braybrook said they had seen more flies in their own orchard and had taken steps to try and control and eradicate the pest. “We’ve seen the increase and we’re doing our bit,” he said.
Naturalure Fruit Fly Bait Concentrate, from Corteva Agriscience, has been the preferred product in recent years due to the ease of use and effectiveness.
“We've used Naturalure and what a ripper of a product”
“This is our third year running we've used Naturalure and what a ripper of a product,” Mr Braybrook said.
“We've used other products in the past and mixing became challenging for us with different components that had to be mixed together. We found it quite hard. With Naturalure, you pour it in and off you go. It's worked well for us."
He said the company’s orchards are monitored for fruit fly by external and internal people and a number of trap technologies used to determine pest activity.
“The last year has been different. We have seen abnormal flights and we're buckling in for this year and we're going to hit them hard. We normally spray eight or nine months of the year, but we are now forecasting for 12 months.”
Mr Braybrook said said they initially sprayed problematic areas of the farm with hand sprayers but have now moved to a dedicated tractor and staff member who sprays Naturalure across the 500 hectares.
“We’ve been buying Naturalure in bulk and that's really helped us out. There is a bulk container for each farm instead of carting three or four different drums, mixing tanks and different components that made it quite tricky. Using Naturalure has been really cost-effective for us."
Fruit fly spraying is done using a 100litre Croplands unit with a three-point linkage hydraulically-driven pump, set up with a jet sprayer on the side.
“It just sprays into the tree with a nice steady stream. We keep it to the bottom third of the tree. There are many ways to have a go at it but that's what's worked best for us,” he said.
“We've had good results with Naturalure. Talking with the guys at Corteva, they've been brilliant. They've really helped us out along the way and a local supplier in town has backed it in as well.
“It's exciting to be involved with something that works. It's something that we're going to continue to grow with and use. It's been really good to us.”
Mr Braybrook said control of fruit fly and other pests in the orchard was vital for their success.
“We’re heavily involved in the Korea, China, Thailand program and meeting pest protocols required to get into that market. If you can't export your fruit, you're in trouble.”
