An Australian citrus grower is harvesting fruit which he intends to sell illegally on the domestic market.
Joe Cordoma, an Emerald citrus grower in central Queensland, is to flout a quarantine zone, set up after last year’s citrus canker outbreak.
The rules mean growers can only sell their fruit, under strict conditions, overseas, but Cordoma said he is frustrated that the restrictions still apply when his business is canker free.
He is now preparing to sell his crop: “As soon as we de-green them and pack them, we are going to try and sell them in the domestic market," he told the Australian press.
“Either that or government's got to come up and put something down on paper that they are prepared to compensate me the AU$8,000 an acre that I'm demanding.”
However, government ministers said growers who sell their fruit illegally could face stiff penalties and damage the citrus industry.
A spokesman said: “If the disease escapes into the rest of the Australian market it will have an impact on not just them but other growers across the country too. So I think they need to consider their actions in light of that.”
