Australia has taken part in a joint expedition with Papua New Guinea (PNG), to visit a remote community in the battle against oriental fruit fly.
Since the mid-1990s, Australia has managed to avoid the oriental fruit fly, which poses a threat to crops in PNG and other parts of the world, including the United States and Southern Asia.
It was first discovered in Hawaii in 1940 and attacks more than 400 different plants including figs, mangoes, papaya, bananas and guavas.
The joint PNG-Australia expedition, which visited remote Treaty Villages in PNG’s Western Province last week, consisted of three officers from PNG’s National Agriculture and Quarantine Inspection Authority (NAQIA), three from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), a Ph.D. student, delivery partner INLOC, and the South Fly rangers, who assisted with studying the insect.
The goal is to help local PNG communities protect the fruit they rely on for food, while also helping stave off any potential threat to Australian crops.
Oriental fruit fly was last found on mainland Australia near Cairns in North Queensland in 1995.
According to the National Fruit Fly Council, eradicating the species would cost at least $33 million (US$20.7 million) and another $100 million in lost trade and associated costs.
“We already have Queensland fruit fly, but oriental fruit fly would be much worse in terms of impact to production and trade, as recognised by its listing on Australia’s National Priority Plant Pest List,” Deputy Secretary of Biosecurity Justine Saunders said.
“This trip established foundational relationships with the village communities, which the team hopes to strengthen further on a return trip in May 2025. The next phase is to trial control strategies to reduce the number of fruit flies in the Treaty Villages to assist our neighbours with food security.
“The program has employed and trained more than 30 South Fly rangers since 2022 to trap the insects, collect samples, and manage data.”
The move builds on more than two decades of agricultural collaboration between the two nations.
The towns of Berr, Buzi, Jarai, and Mari, where the trial is proposed, rely heavily on the food they grow, and crop damage has serious health and social implications for villagers.
The joint effort strengthens a growing friendship between the two nations.
The deal stipulates that Australia remain PNG’s primary security partner, meaning that if PNG were to switch sides and cooperate with Beijing, the deal could be called off.
“Rugby league is PNG’s national sport, and PNG deserves a national team,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in December.
The fruit fly task force has started stakeholder engagement on a fruit fly management program proposed for the villages later this year.
