The Adelaide Hills region in South Australia may soon achieve pest-free status, as it nears the end of a 12-month monitoring period in January. The much coveted status could prove a boon for its horticulture producers; the region is well known for its cherries, strawberries, pears and apples.
If the results of the South Australian Government’s monitoring prove the area has been fruit fly-free for a year, the Federal Government can declare it a pest-free area.
Local federal MP Rebekha Sharkie, of the Nick Xenophon Team, says she is taking up the cause directly with Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce and has had preliminary discussions with him.
Without the declaration, the region was missing out on huge export opportunities to countries such as China, Thailand and Vietnam.
While South Australia has long been lauded as fruit fly-free, the state’s Riverland region is the only officially declared such area. It exported its first nectarines to China in May.
Horticulture Innovation Australia is also opening a new centre in Port Augusta this month, dedicated to managing Queensland fruit fly, a pest estimated to cost horticulture $300 million in lost markets.
