Fruit fly controls lifted
Controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables in the Auckland suburbs of Devonport and Ōtara have been lifted after no further fruit fly have been found there.
INVESTIGATORS IN the fight against fruit flies hope that two newly fitted mobile field laboratories will help them improve their ability to manage the pests.
This year two fruit fly investigations, which came from targeted surveillance traps in Whangarei saw the MPI set up two separate temporary field laboratories to deal with the response.
Temporary labs are useful in analysing hundreds of kilos of fruit and identify any insects found at the site, but they can take some time to set up.
"These facilities were cramped and took some days to become fully operational," says Dr Veronica Herrera, MPI's director investigation diagnostic centres and response.
"Modifications were costly and time consuming and had to be removed when the investigation ended.
The new labs, are designed to be picked up and transported to the field by truck and can be 'plugged in' to the field HQ's power and water systems, meaning the laboratory function can be up and running within a day of the response.
Herrera says that during a fruit fly investigation, there is a large amount of potential risk material, which needs examination and it is not appropriate to move this material out of the zone for testing.
"We need this mobile laboratory capability to be moved into the surveillance zone to maintain quarantine," she says.
"The new portable labs meet Fruit Fly containment requirements and have suitable lighting and ventilation flows to ensure that quarantine is maintained
"The two units work in relationship with each other and include adequate space for the entomologists (insect specialists)."
Herrera says the MPI now has better examination and inspection facilities, improved containment, greater flexibility at the site headquarters and cheaper establishment costs.
"Our deployment time is reduced and this means field samples can now begin to be given laboratory examination earlier in the response."
On the eve of his departure from Federated Farmers board, Richard McIntyre is thanking farmers for their support and words of encouragement during his stint as a farmer advocate.
A project reducing strains and sprains on farm has won the Innovation category in the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards 2025.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), in partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and other sector organisations, has launched a national survey to understand better the impact of facial eczema (FE) on farmers.
One of New Zealand's latest and largest agrivoltaics farm Te Herenga o Te Rā is delivering clean renewable energy while preserving the land's agricultural value for sheep grazing under the modules.
Global food company Nestle’s chair Paul Bulcke will step down at its next annual meeting in April 2026.
Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki has been announced as the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the National Sustainability Showcase at in Wellington this evening.
OPINION: ACT MP Mark Cameron isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he certainly calls it how he sees it, holding…
OPINION: Did former PM Jacinda Ardern get fawning reviews for her book?