'Growers fear fruit fly’
PA Auckland Fears that the Queensland fruit fly will spread to New Zealand under Closer Economic Relations (C.E.R.) with Australia, are held by some Auckland vegetable growers. ... The - fly could not only destroy tomato and other crops, but would endanger valuable horticultural exports such as kiwifruit, the marketing chairman for the Vegetable and Produce Growers’ Federation, Mr Keith Jowsey, said. The best way to prevent
fruit fly from infesting New Zealand was to ban imports of Queensland tomatoes under the C.E.R. agreement. He said that the Queensland fruit fly was as vicious as the deadly Mediterranean fruit fly. It burrowed under the skin of fruit and could destroy the inside of a tomato leaving the outside intact.
“You cannot tell they are there until you open up the tomato or the fruit. The outside can seem perfectly okay.” Queensland tomatoes were banned from New Zealand because the insecticide used against the fruit fly was not acceptable. Mr Jowsey said that under the draft C.E.R. agreement there was provision for small quantities, and then increasing amounts of. Queensland tomatoes to be imported. , The tomatoes would be subject to quarantine but, as the volume increased there
was a “grave danger" the larvae would get into New Zealand. The fruit fly was as big as an ordinary fly and had already spread from Queensland into parts of New South Wales “It is highly likely that it could be established in this country. If this happens it will be a terrible upset to tomato growers, but there is the danger of it getting into other horticulture crops like kiwifruit,” Mr Jowsey said.
The best thing New Zealand, could do was to ban (any produce likely to be infected with fruit fly larvae. j The- next best thing was physically to inspect all imports which couldji be infected, but this would be very expensive, he said. 7 The Australians ‘.‘ were working on a new insecticide called Rogor which worked on the actual cells of - the fruit or vegetable, but this was banned in New Zealand. •I ■>
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Press, 8 September 1982, Page 10
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345'Growers fear fruit fly’ Press, 8 September 1982, Page 10
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