By the time Bari Sulejman realised he had a serious problem, the damage had already been done. At first, he thought birds were attacking his plum orchard near Shepparton.
“Then one day I started looking down and there were maggots in the fruit,” he said.
On that day, about six years ago, Sulejman learnt Queensland fruit fly had infested his plum block, wiping out about 70 per cent of his crop. He is certain the problem originated from an urbanised neighbourhood near his farm. His orchard was “smashed at the front” by the pest near the urban area, while the infestation tapered off as he went further into it.
Bari Sulejman at his orchard near Shepparton. Credit: Justin McManus
Since then, Sulejman estimates he has spent tens of thousands of dollars on fruit fly pest control in addition to countless hours spraying his crops with pesticide and laying traps.
“It is very stressful. You really don’t know if you got damaged until it’s too late.”
Queensland fruit fly numbers have increased markedly in the Goulburn region over the past four years, and Victorian growers expect the problem to get much worse. A state government program that provided funding for councils to tackle Queensland fruit fly is due to end in July this year, and funding for the program has dropped more than 60 per cent from its peak.
The Goulburn Murray Valley Area Wide Management program, introduced in 2017, included field officers and volunteers who helped clear infested fruit from residential properties and spoke to households about how they could reduce the pest in the Shepparton, Moira, Strathbogie and Campaspe local government areas.
The Queensland fruit fly.Credit: WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
It included trapping stations in urban, rural and peri-urban locations. These traps also served as monitoring stations to help predict insect numbers and determine where they were most prolific.
At its height, the program funded 102 traps in urban parts of the Goulburn Murray Valley, but now there are just 19.
Fruit trees and fallen fruit are known to attract the insect in urban areas where unwitting property owners may be unaware their backyards have become hosts. The insects attack and spoil all manner of fruit by injecting it with their eggs, which hatch into larvae.
In Ardmona, near Shepparton, fifth-generation fruit grower Mitch McNab said the area-wide management plan had helped reduce fruit fly numbers in urban areas, which minimised the risk for large orchards.
But in the past year, he has noticed a substantial rise in the pest on his property, which he attributed to the management plan tapering off.
McNab said growers had to spray more chemicals on their orchards to save their crops.
“At the end of the day it’s another cost,” he said. “If we can avoid using it, it’s better for the fruit but also better for our back pocket.”
Mitch McNab in his apple orchard. Credit: Justin McManus
McNab said fruit flies could destroy up to 5 per cent of fruit on his farm, equating to more than 150,000 kilograms of wasted produce.
Figures supplied by Shepparton City Council show the state government provided $859,920 for the program in 2018-19, but the funding declined annually and fell to $322,316 in 2024-25.
The council reported there had been a 90 per cent increase in fruit fly numbers in 2024 alone. However, analysis conducted by fruit fly industry consultant Andrew Jessup showed numbers of the insect would skyrocket by 600 per cent in a worst-case scenario once the area-wide management program ceases altogether.
He said Queensland fruit fly was largely non-existent in Victoria, except for Gippsland, until about 2010. Jessup said numbers then ramped up in the Goulburn Murray Valley from about 2013 until the state government introduced the area-wide management program in the Goulburn region in 2016.
He said fruit fly numbers became more manageable during the height of the program between 2016 and 2019 before funding was steadily reduced. Jessup said growers had become adept at controlling the pest on their properties, but surrounding infestations in urban areas threatened to undo their hard work.
“It has to be a whole community job,” he said.
Fruit Growers Victoria industry development officer Michael Crisera said households should cover trees with nets while the fruit was ripening and pick up fallen fruit as it could attract fruit flies.
Queensland fruit fly attack all manner of fruit. Credit: Keith Scott
“What you do to control fruit flow in your backyard is really going to help your neighbours, but also help the fruit growing industry,” he said.
Affected councils and fruit-grower groups are urging the Victorian government to provide $1 million to reinstate the program.
A spokesman for the Victorian government said it had spent $14.3 million on the industry and home gardeners to embed fruit fly management programs in their communities and limit the pest’s impact. He said Queensland fruit fly was now an established pest in Victoria and the government was supporting businesses with education as well as research into control methods and surveillance.
Bari Sulejman said he is doing everything possible to control fruit fly. Credit: Justin McManus
Sulejman has accepted that Queensland fruit flies are entrenched. He wants to continue farming, but said the pest was another pressure in an already stressful industry. Sulejman said he was already taking rigorous control measures to protect his property from the threat.
“If you just miss one day of it they’ll come in,” he said. “It’s a major problem.”
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