Protocols to allow fruit fly impacted growers to continue supplying the Tasmanian market are expected late this afternoon.
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Fruit Growers Tasmania president Nick Hansen led a briefing with growers located within a control zone on Sunday.
He said he spent Saturday night working on a set of protocols to prevent farmers losing business while Biosecurity Tasmania investigates four detections of fruit fly at Spreyton and Flinders Island.
“This new protocol will give fruit growers a way that they can move their product throughout the rest of Tasmania, and with rigorous biosecurity testing and some changes to packaging requirements,” Mr Hansen said.
Last week, Biosecurity Tasmania enforced a ban on growers within 15 kilometres of Spreyton supplying produce to fruit-fly free Tasmanian sellers.
Mr Hansen said under new protocols, Biosecurity Tasmania officers would check 600 pieces of fruit before declaring a farm free of fruit fly.
“They will look at the outside for any scar marks or injury points where potential larvae may be housed in, and included in that will be a full inspection of the property,” Mr Hansen said.
“The packaging will also change to include a fully sealable bag so that during transport no potential fruit fly incursion could get into the packaging and into the fruit.”
Growers of apricots, cherries, tomatoes, berries, capsicum and apples are among those most at risk of attracting fruit flies.
Mr Hansen said the flies were attracted to the colour yellow, and disliked the colour white.
“They’re the laziest insect out there and they barely travel, just breed and breed,” Mr Hansen said.
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