The recent discovery of fruit fly in the Ti Tree agricultural region of Australia is threatening the pest-free status of the area, according to a report by ABC Rural.
Andrew Tomkins, director of biosecurity at the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries, told the publication that the pest was first found a few months ago in the region to the north of Alice Springs, with several more flies found since that initial discovery.
Host trees have had to be stripped down to stem the spread of fruit fly, he said, but growers remain hopeful that the region's pest-free status can be quickly resumed.
'At this stage, I don't think it will be until about August, because what happens is once we catch some flies, there's some procedures that are set down and there's a set period of time after the last fly was detected before the other states will accept that the fruit fly population has died out,' Mr Tomkins said.
