Improved postharvest market access treatments for horticultural commodities.

1. biosecurity built on science
Disinfestation for market access
Lisa Jamieson
Scientist, Applied Entomology
Plant & Food Research
Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre

2. biosecurity built on science
Problem being addressed
 Quarantine pests causing disruption to the
trade of Australian and New Zealand
horticulture commodities
 Commodities that are hosts to quarantine
pests need protocols to access export
markets with quarantine barriers
 Develop treatments:
- effective against the pest
- maintain product quality
- fit in to transport and handling systems
(air-freight/sea-freight)
- cost effective
 Significant disinfestation R&D over the last
40 years
 Many protocols developed, some used
extensively, some not used at all
Qfly
Medfly
Codling moth
Tomato potato psyllid
Apple leafcurling
midge

3. biosecurity built on science
What are we doing about it?
 Phase 1: A review of:
- treatment technologies
- disinfestation research
- current market access protocols
- research priorities for Phase 2
 Phase 2: Provide data to develop new
export protocols that are:
- effective
- efficient
- economic

4. biosecurity built on science
What are we doing about it?
 Need to review all the published and unpublished phytosanitary research
 Researchers across Australia, NZ and USA who have conducted the research:
Team Member Organisation Speciality
Lisa Jamieson
Allan Woolf
Barbara Waddell
Project Leader
PFRNZ
Entomology
Physiology
Pauline Wyatt
Peter Leach
DAF, QLD Entomology
John Golding
Andrew Jessup
NSW DPI
Physiology
Entomology
Francis De Lima AgHort Solutions, WA Entomology
Jack Armstrong
Quarantine Scientific,
NZ
Entomology
Peter Follett USDA-ARS Entomology

5. biosecurity built on science
Phase 1: Review and Workshop
 A review of postharvest
disinfestation technologies
 Presented findings from review at
workshops with stakeholders in
September 2015 in Australia and
New Zealand
 Priorities for Phase 2

6. biosecurity built on science
Review of disinfestation technologies
 Fumigants
- 15 major, 18 minor fumigants, methyl bromide
 Energy treatments
- irradiation, electrical, microwave, radio frequency,
pulsed electrical field, infrared, cold plasma
 Controlled atmosphere (CA)
- CA plus heat, CA plus cold, CA plus high pressure
 Physical
- heat, cold, pressure, vacuum, brushing, high pressure
washing
 Systems approaches

7. biosecurity built on science
Review of disinfestation research
A review of published and unpublished disinfestation
research data in Australia and New Zealand
 Species
 Lifestage
 Treatment conditions
 Number of insects tested
 Commodity
 Reference
 Protocol

8. biosecurity built on science
Example cold disinfestation research
Species Lifestage Treatment No tested Commodity Reference Protocol
Medfly First instar 1°C 16 days 84,560
Table grapes
Red Globe
De Lima et al.
2011
Japan MAFF
Medfly First instar 2°C 18 days 78,859
Qfly First instar 1°C 12 days 66,739
Table grapes
Red Globe
De Lima et al.
2011
Japan MAFF
Qfly First instar 2°C 14 days 53,136

9. biosecurity built on science
Review of export protocols
Collated data on New Zealand and Australian fresh fruit
and vegetable industries:
 Value and volume of major fruit and vegetable exports
 Main export markets
 Current phytosanitary requirements
 Existing export protocols

10. biosecurity built on science
Example: Australian Citrus
Crop Total Export
value and
Volume
Value of major
markets
Market access
pests
Approved treatments
Citrus
Orange
$140.0 million
134,448 t
Japan 34.0
Hong Kong 27.6
USA 16.2
China 14.4
Malaysia 11.4
Singapore 8.8
Canada 5.1
Indonesia 3.6
UAE 2.1
Japan: Qfly,
Medfly
China: Fruit
flies
Thailand:
Fuller’s rose
weevil (FRW),
fruit flies
USA: Fruit flies,
lightbrown
apple moth
(LBAM), CBS
Indonesia:
1. Fruit fly free areas recognised: Riverland, South
Australia and Tasmania.
2. Cold treatments: onshore or in transit at or below
2°C for 16 days; or at or below 3°C for 18 days.
3. Irradiation at 150 gray.
4. Fumigation with methyl bromide at 64 g/m3 at
21°C for 2 h.
China:
1. Citrus spp., Oranges, Mandarins, Lemons,
Grapefruit, Limes, Tangelo.
2.Mandatory cold disinfestation treatment is required,
onshore or in transit 1°C or below for 16 d or 2.1°C
or below for 21 d.

11. biosecurity built on science
Workshops in Australia & New Zealand
Participants
 Exporters and industry representatives of Citrus,
Mango, Apple, Pear, Kiwifruit, Summerfruit, Table
grapes, Capsicum, Tomato, Berryfruit, Vegetables
 HIA, HortNZ, PCRC
 Researchers from NZ, Qld, NSW, WA
 Regulators DAWR, MPI
What are your:
 Current and future target markets?
 Market access issues?
 Useful and useless protocols?
 Priorities for disinfestation research?

12. biosecurity built on science
Stakeholder meetings in Australia & New Zealand
Several cross-industry priorities
 Fruit flies remain primary pests of
concern (Australia & New Zealand)
- Other pests: FRW, MSW, thrips,
mealybugs, scale insects, mites,
lightbrown apple moth, codling moth
 Development of postharvest
disinfestation treatments to enable
market access by air-freight
- Shorter cold treatments, irradiation, low-
dose methyl bromide
 Consistent cold treatments between
markets
 NZ fruit fly preparedness: collection of
efficacy data on 4 major fruit fly species
- Qfly, Medfly, Oriental fruit fly, Melon fruit fly

13. biosecurity built on science
Priorities for Phase 2
Priorities for Phase 2
Compare cold mortality response data for Qfly, Medfly, Oriental
fruit fly and melon fruit fly across commodities and countries
• Collate mortality response data and conduct additional cold
studies
• Protocols developed and approved for fruit flies before they
establish in New Zealand and Australia
• Standardisation of cold treatments across markets
Develop new disinfestation protocols appropriate for air-freight
- Short cold treatments – combine with CA or low toxicity
compound (PBCRC)
- Linking with development of new disinfestation protocols for
irradiation and low-dose methyl bromide (HIA projects)

14. biosecurity built on science
How will this research be delivered?
Reports
 Review, Australian workshop, NZ workshop
 Cold CA, Cold database and findings from analyses,
additional cold studies
Workshops
 Quarantine research for fruits and vegetables (Aus/NZ)
 Statistical analysis and issues associated with
phytosanitary treatments
Discussion documents
 Address issues associated with phytosanitary treatments
arising from Technical Panel on Phytosanitary Treatments
Database
 Mortality responses of fruit flies to cold

15. biosecurity built on science
Who will benefit from this research?
 Fruit and vegetable exporters and associated
businesses
 Producers of fruits and vegetables
 Product groups and horticultural industry
representative groups e.g. HIAL, HortNZ, PMAC,
PMA
 Regulators and risk assessors/managers, e.g. MPI,
DAFWA
 Researchers – better collaboration

16. biosecurity built on science
Benefit for our horticultural industries
Short term:
 Review and summary of disinfestation research that is
relevant to Australian and NZ horticultural industries
 Research priorities for the development of new effective
disinfestation treatments to safeguard Australian and NZ
horticulture
 Provision of data and recommendations for
implementing new effective postharvest treatments
 Maintaining and expanding capability in developing
phytosanitary treatments
Long term:
- New quarantine protocols developed
- Increased export trade of horticultural products

17. biosecurity built on science
End-User Advocate Perspective
 A high quality evaluation of postharvest market access
treatments
 Industry may have to rely less on true fumigants and
more on alternate methods of pest control in the
future
 Now a good opportunity to develop new export
protocol for key pests of quarantine concern as the 2nd
phase of the project
 New export protocol will need to be cost effective,
safe to use, and acceptable to our trading partners

18. biosecurity built on science
Future
 Tools to improve acceptability of systems approaches to
managing risks in the market and identify redundancies in a
systems
 Rapid pest identification at the border
 Efficacy of irradiation against non-fruit fly species and impact
on the quality of commodities/varieties not yet tested
 Low-dose methyl bromide

19. biosecurity built on science
Thank you
For more information, please email
 Lisa.Jamieson@plantandfood.co.nz
Project team members:
 Pauline Wyatt, Peter Leach, DAF QLD
 John Golding, NSW DPI
 Frances De Lima, AgHort Solutions, WA
 Jack Armstrong, Quarantine Scientific, NZ
 Peter Follett, USDA-ARS, Hawaii
 Allan Woolf, Barbara Waddell, PFR NZ
PBCRC is established and supported under
the Australian Government Cooperative
Research Centres Programme