Managing fruit fly in Papua New Guinea Treaty Villages

Do a PhD with a difference! This project is based in Cairns with travel and fieldwork in Papua New Guinea. You'll work closely with researchers at the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. You’ll have experience in plant health or entomology or a related field, and ideally the ability to design and conduct field experiments, statistically analyse biological data, and communicate results in written and oral formats.

We are hoping to start this project before the end of 2024, so are seeking a domestic student or student from Papua New Guinea. You will also need the ability to obtain a passport and travel visa for Papua New Guinea, and undergo police check. 

Project background: Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) is a highly invasive horticultural pest, found in at least 65 countries and infesting over 470 species of fruits and vegetables. Oriental fruit fly was detected in Papua New Guinea (Western Province) for the first time in 1992, with subsequent detections in the adjacent Torres Strait islands (Queensland, Australia) by 1993. It invaded the Cairns region in 1995 and was eradicated over 4 years at a cost of $35M, with $100M in lost market access (unindexed). Since 1996, Oriental fruit fly has been eradicated seasonally from the Torres Strait through Australia’s National Exotic Fruit Fly in Torres Strait Eradication Program, however the frequency and number of detections has been increasing over time. This increase results in a higher risk of an another incursion of Oriental fruit fly on mainland Australia, as well as a higher monetary cost to achieve eradication in the Torres Strait.  

The Treaty Villages Fruit Fly Trapping Program (TVFFTP) was established in 2022, co-delivered by the Australian federal government and the Papua New Guinea government, to monitor Oriental fruit fly numbers and population dynamics in the Treaty Villages of Papua New Guinea. The Treaty Villages are a series of villages along the southern coast of the Western Province that are directly opposite the northern most islands of the Torres Strait, with as little as 4 km of ocean separating them at the closest point. It has long been speculated that the source of Oriental fruit fly in the Torres Strait is the Treaty Villages and the TVFFTP aims to evaluate this hypothesis. 

Inhabitants of the Treaty Villages largely rely on hunting and subsistence agriculture. Many of the significant food crops for village inhabitants are vulnerable to damage from Oriental fruit fly (e.g. cucurbits, bananas, citrus and solanaceous plants), so high populations of Oriental fruit fly can significantly reduce food availability throughout the Treaty Villages.  

Findings so far: Oriental fruit fly populations exist in the Treaty Villages all year round, with increased abundance from October to January. The presence of Oriental fruit fly in the Torres Strait appears to coincide with increased seasonal abundance of this species in the Treaty Villages. Likely adding to the risk of Oriental fruit fly moving from the Treaty Villages into the Torres Strait are the northerly and north-westerly winds that blow from Papua New Guinea into Australia. These wind movements occur predominantly in the wet-season and correspond with the seasonal increase in abundance of Oriental fruit fly in the Treaty Villages. 

Future prospects: To date there has been no active management of Oriental fruit fly in the Treaty Villages, allowing establishment of populations of flies in areas with suitable hosts. While the prospect of eradicating Oriental fruit fly from the Treaty Villages (and from Papua New Guinea more broadly) is not feasible, there is potential for management at a local level. As a precedent, local management of Oriental fruit fly has been achieved in an ACIAR project in Indonesia (De Faveri et al. 2024). A similar management system could be applied in the Treaty Villages, but the efficacy of specific trapping techniques and their suitability for local environmental and cultural settings requires testing before implementation.  

Aim: The overall aim of the project is to reduce populations of Oriental fruit fly in the Papua New Guinea Treaty Villages in order to (1) improve local food security in the Treaty Villages and (2) to reduce the risk of Oriental fruit fly incursion into Torres Strait and mainland Australia. 

Approach: We expect the student will assess the suitability and efficacy of a combination of existing fruit fly management techniques for use in the PNG Treaty Villages by conducting an initial pre-trial in the Cairns region and subsequently an in-country trial in select Treaty Villages. The student can formally analyse and report the results to relevant parties and will work closely with DAFF staff, Treaty Village Rangers (via INLOC), National Agriculture & Quarantine Inspection Authority (NAQIA) in Papua New Guinea, and other relevant parties.

The student would review literature on Oriental fruit fly management methods and their efficacy (including potential toxicants/pesticides, parasitoids, entomopathogens) with consideration of their implementation in remote tropical locations, especially the PNG Treaty Villages. Any future proposals related to implementation require regulatory assessment and so will only form part of this program in exceptional circumstances.

The remainder of the PhD project can be determined by findings and the student’s interest. Additional research objectives may include determining sustainable management method(s) to trial, considering environmental conditions, logistics, and cultural practices in the Treaty Villages or modelling Oriental fruit fly incursion risk into Australia with climate change. 

You will be based in Cairns, Queensland, at James Cook University, and will work closely with scientists at the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry office in Cairns. There is expected to be travel to Papua New Guinea.

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Embark on a career-defining journey with this PhD project. You’ll acquire the skills and networks necessary to secure positions in government, industry, or academia upon graduation.

As a PhD student in the ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity, you’ll join a collaborative research partnership between three universities and over 20 partner organisations, funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC). You can express your interest in this project directly on our website: https://plantbiosecuritycentre.edu.au/managing-fruit-fly-in-papua-new-guinea-treaty-villages/