Australian Stonefruit Grower Magazine Issue 4 April 2017 | Page 8

Low Chill Australia President's Report
Fruit flies under control
Up here in Queensland we finished our
stonefruit season weeks ago. But that doesn’t
mean there isn’t still plenty to be done.
W
e grow persimmons as well as stonefruit, and at this time of year we are trying
to get the fruit off the trees as fast as possible. The really encouraging news
is that so far, despite processing many tons of fruit, I have seen a total of only two
persimmons with fruit fly stings!
As many would know, persimmons are a very attractive host for fruit flies. Sting
marks show up as a distinct and very obvious black mark. They are hard to miss.
ROD DALTON is President
of Low Chill Australia
Normally we tell the pickers to pull off and dispose of any fruit with visible sting
marks. However this year the stings are so rare we haven’t needed to do that.
E: president@
lowchillaustralia.com.au
We used to control fruit fly with regular sprays of Lebaycid. Mon itoring traps
outside the orchard are still catching 6 to 10 flies per week, so they are certainly still
around in the outside environment.
However, despite using no cover sprays at all this season, inside the orchard we
don’t catch any flies. It seems clear that the combination of protein baiting, MAT and
hail net with sidewalls really are keeping our crop fruit fly free.
Dan Papacek from ‘Bugs for Bugs’ recommends keeping some bait around during
winter – just in case there are a few warm days and females start to emerge. You don’t
have to apply as often, but it’s important to keep bait available. We will certainly
keeping up bait applications. After all, if there are no flies left after winter it will greatly
slow down the buildup of the population in spring, when the weather warms and the
orchard is starting to set fruit.
Weather certainly creates plenty of challenges. It may surprise some to know that
here in south-east Queensland the ground is still very dry. While about 100mm of rain
fell locally during the recent storms, it wasn’t enough to get the creek running behind
our property. The creek is what recharges the local aquifer, so water supply is really
critical. Other areas, extending up to Stanthorpe and into the granite belt are much the
same.
At the same time, other low chill growers have had far too much rain. While most of
the orchards are on slopes, so probably not flood affected, heavy rain and waterlogging
are clearly not good for stonefruit trees.
The impact of the storms on orchards will only become clear next spring, once the
trees start to come back to life. Our thoughts are certainly with those growers affected,
and hope that there aren’t too many ill-effects.
– Rod Dalton
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Australian Stonefruit Grower | April 2017
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