Releases of sterile fruit flies at two Australian locations have significantly reduced Queensland fruit fly numbers. The pilot, which ran from September 2019 to mid-April 2020 in Hillston, NSW and Cobram, VIC  involved releasing sterile fruit flies each week from a plane and is part of the Hort Innovation research project - Post Factory Pilot of SITPlus Fly production.

Cobram agronomist Russell Fox said, “The sterile fruit fly releases have worked well so far and are widely supported by local growers and community. The program is a very useful complement to the regional fruit fly management strategy.”