Thursday, 23 January 2014 14:01

Fruit fly brings anxious wait

Written by Pamela Tipa

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

NEW ZEALAND'S horticulture industry, New Zealand's fourth largest export earner, is collectively holding its breath while it waits to find out if there will be any more Queensland fruit flies found in Northland.

The Ministry for Primary Industries this morning announced the detection of a single male Queensland fruit fly in a suburb of Whangarei.

"This is an anxious time for all growers and the whole horticulture industry," HortNZ president Julian Raine says. "We are watching the response efforts very closely and providing support and advice to the Ministry where we can.

"Growers appreciate the difficulties this is going to cause for people living within the controlled area that has been set up around the find.

"We thank them very much for their co-operation. It's not just commercial horticulture that needs their help, but all Kiwis with fruit trees and veggie patches."

The risk to the $4 billion New Zealand horticulture industry from the Queensland Fruit Fly is two-fold. First is the destruction caused by the pest and the on-going cost of attempting to control it, and
second is the cost of international markets closing to our products, because those trading partners don't want to get the Queensland pest either.

The export of fruit and vegetables is New Zealand's fourth largest export earner.

Featured

Wool carpet u-turn ‘could help growers’

If a New Zealand wool carpet maker were to win the bid for the hotly debated Kainga Ora state housing contract, the benefits to New Zealand would be “far reaching”.

DairyNZ seeks more cash

For the first time in 17 years, DairyNZ wants farmers to contribute more cash to run the industry-good organisation.

EPA's plan 'not good enough'

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is bolstering its frontline applications teams in a bid to reduce the timeframe for new product applications, but agri chemical producers say that it isn't good enough.

Apples and pears hit $1b milestone

New Zealand’s apple and pear industry has surpassed $1 billion in orchard gate returns (OGR) for the first time.

Fonterra urged to seek extension to GMO bill consultation

With less than a week to go before submissions close on the Government’s controversial Gene Technology Bill, two agribusiness executives - John Greenberg and Michael Henne - are calling on Fonterra to demand an extension to the submission period.