Fears over the potential spread of two new biosecurity threats highlights the need for industry and community to remain vigilant to protect the region’s billion-dollar agricultural industry.
FNQ Growers president Joe Moro
Varroa destructor, a mite which attacks European honey bees, has been detected in New South Wales, restricting the movement of bees and hives from NSW into Queensland. It is considered the greatest threat to Australia’s honey and honey bee pollination plant industries.
The outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Bali has Australia’s livestock industry on edge, with the beef, dairy, pig and sheep industries desperate to ensure it doesn’t reach Australian shores.
FNQ Growers president Joe Moro said while different threats to different industries, both Varroa Destructor and FMD, have the ability to wipe out industries, businesses and alarmingly, possibly even rural communities.
Biosecurity remains a top priority for our growers and the recent outbreak of Varroa destructor in NSW clearly shows how quickly these threats can mobilise. Some horticulture industries rely heavily on pollination services, so any threat to this is a direct threat to the viability of horticulture.
Mr Moro said while horticulture growers and livestock producers took every step to protect their crop or herd, it was imperative that the public remained vigilant to safeguard the industries that supported them.
FNQ Growers supports a campaign by the livestock industries urging tourists to ditch their boots before arriving back in Australia from Bali.
Mr Moro said.
When you consider the economic flow-on effect from agriculture, which for many rural and regional economies is the economic driver, biosecurity is really a matter for all of us.
