OFTEN swiped away at barbecues and swished at over picnics, the humble fly may be the saviour of a blueberry industry reliant on pollination.
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In fact, the tiny winged wonders won't bother humans or food at all but instead help fill the gap left by absent honey bees.
Researchers will release pollinator flies in the Coffs Harbour biosecurity Red Zone in an effort to fortify close to 1500 hectares of berry crops in the area after Varroa mite incursions limited the number of honey bees.
The program will investigate whether the particular flies, that are not attracted to food or humans, can be as effective.
The University of New England and seedPurity will lead the project where data will be collected from berry farms in the Varroa mite Red Zone to understand how different flies pollinate berry crops and how growers could harness their behaviour.
University of New England associate professor Dr Romina Rader said harnessing flies could be an important part of a growers' pollination "toolkit".
"The aim is to provide growers with a range of options they can employ on their properties to encourage pollination by flies and other insects," Dr Rader said.
"For example, we will investigate whether growing flowers other than berries on farms attracts wild pollinators for longer and supports the pollinators already in berry fields.
"We will also be investigating fly dispersal, retention, survival, and pollination efficiency within berries by a common fly species, Eristalis tenax."
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Dr Radar said the fly E. tenax is already present in the Coffs Harbour area and has demonstrated its potential to pollinate berries in earlier trials.
Australian Blueberry Growers Association president Andrew Bell said the discovery of Varroa mite in the Coffs region emphasised to industry that research into alternative pollination methods was more important than ever.
"The recent Varroa mite incursion has highlighted the need for growers to have multiple pollination strategies up their sleeves for times like this," Mr Bell said.
"I am looking forward to in the outcomes of this research and learning about how we can encourage greater pollination by flies on berry farms."
In the past few weeks, six new Varroa mite infestations at four locations across the Central Coast, Hunter and Mid-North Coast regions have the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) extending current eradication zones and concentrating surveillance and tracing activities around Sydney's northern suburbs.
The total number of infestations has now risen to 137, after detections at Booral, Clarence Town, Mooney Mooney and Mitchell's Flat.
Hort Innovation is backing the project which is part of the organisation's $61 million into research and development projects aimed at enhancing and protecting pollination security in Australia.
Hort Innovation chief executive officer Brett Fifield said Coffs Harbour was the major berry growing region of Australia and had been significantly impacted by the Varroa mite biosecurity response.
"Preliminary work through a previous Hort Innovation investment identified several flies as effective pollinators, so conducting this research in Coffs Harbour is an opportunity to take this research further," he said.
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