Fruit fly: Second year of heartache in store for Riverland stone fruit growers

Riverland stone fruit growers are facing a second season of crippling fruit fly restrictions, which have already cost farmers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Fruit fly outbreaks have already cost Riverland growers millions of dollars, but now, stone fruit businesses are facing a second year of heartache.

The cost of treatments, including fumigation, and lost markets has stripped many growers of their profits this year, Summerfruit SA says, but the group representing stone fruit growers is supporting the Government’s approach to eradicating the pest.

“We’ve heard growers say they’ve lost anything from $40,000 for a small grower to up to $200,000-$300,000, in terms of extra cost and loss of market,” chairman Jason Size said. “It has a huge flow-on effect and has been quite disastrous for quite a few growers.”

There are five current fruit fly outbreak areas in the Riverland and 11 in Adelaide.

Mr Size said picking work on early stone fruit varieties usually started at the end of October, running until late March.

That means the 2021/2022 harvest will again be in fruit fly’s firing line, because the Riverland’s various outbreak zones won’t be cleared until at least December.

“We’ve got that extra cost just to start the season and that would weigh heavily on growers,” Mr Size said.

“If we have to fumigate, it reduces the quality or shelf life of the fruit.

“As a Riverland-based industry, we used to always promote that we don’t need to treat our fruit with chemicals. We’ve had growers that have said, ‘Do I keep harvesting?’.”

Mr Size said this year, he didn’t harvest about 30-40 tonnes of his own fruit amid problems with frost and securing labour.

Some growers were considering pulling out their trees and investing in other crops, he said.

Jason Size and Tim Grieger from Summerfruit SA. Picture: Tom Huntley

PIRSA biosecurity officers Joshua Dowsett and Saurin Barot have been helping SA deal with fruit fly outbreaks. Picture: Keryn Stevens

“The industry has been fighting against fruit fly for many years now … and we’ve had such an influx of outbreaks that questions start arising like, ‘Are we ever going to get over this?’.

“Suddenly the offering or potential of continuing in the industry becomes questionable.” Affected areas include Renmark West, Monash, Cooltong, Berri, Barmera, Murtho, Pike River and Lyrup.

Citrus SA chairman Mark Doecke said growers in affected areas were losing $50-$80 a tonne through fruit fly-related costs, such as cold treatment, adding up to millions lost throughout the industry.

“We were hoping to nip it by now … but if we keep finding flies the date keeps getting pushed out,” he said.

Summerfruit SA executive officer Tim Grieger, who grows apricots in the region, said industry and government were working together to eliminate the pest.

“Together we will win the fight – we will beat this nasty little beast,” he said.

Primary Industries Minister David Basham said the Government had spent $22m fighting the outbreaks in Adelaide and the Riverland, with 450 staff on the ground doing baiting work, stripping fruit from trees and releasing sterile flies.

“The Marshall Liberal Government is doing everything we can to eradicate fruit fly in South Australia to help protect the thousands of jobs and businesses threatened by these outbreaks,” he said.