Pick and collect program
The Pick & Collect Program is helping Riverland residents remove unwanted home-grown fruit and fruiting vegetables at risk of fruit fly from their properties.
- Residents in participating outbreak areas receive biodegradable collection bags in which they place unwanted home-grown produce.
- PIRSA field teams then collect the bags and leave new bags for you.
Good garden hygiene is one of the simplest and most effective ways you can help prevent the spread of fruit fly.
This program is for domestic properties; if you have a commercial property, please call the Fruit Fly Industry Hotline on 1800 255 556.
How it works
- Pick unwanted fruit from your plants and collect all fallen fruit from the ground.
- Half-fill a special Pick & Collect biodegradable bag.
- Seal it using the supplied tie.
- Place bags by the kerbside on the collection day for your area. PIRSA will take them and leave new bags.
Collection schedule
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
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What can go in the bag
Any fruit and fruiting vegetables at risk of fruit fly that is picked from your plants or collected from the ground.
The homegrown produce might be:
- more than you need
- over-ripe
- damaged
- rotten.
What cannot go in the bag
The Pick & Collect bags are designed for home-grown produce at risk of fruit fly.
Do not use the bags for:
- branches
- leaves
- grass clippings
- weeds
- soil
- compost
- household rubbish
- plastics or packaging
- animal waste.
Fill the bag halfway
Please only half-fill each bag before sealing it with the supplied tie.
Half-filled bags are easier and safer to lift, less likely to tear or split, and quicker for PIRSA teams to collect.
Why Pick & Collect fruit?
Fruit flies lay eggs inside fruit and fruiting vegetables. When the larvae (maggots) hatch, they feed on the fruit, the fruit rots and drops to the ground, larvae crawl or jump out and then bury into the soil, where they develop into adult fruit fly.
Fruit left on the plant or on the ground provides ideal breeding conditions for fruit fly. Regularly picking ripe produce and collecting fallen fruit reduces the opportunity for fruit fly to breed.
Need more bags?
When PIRSA field teams collect your bags, they will leave new ones at your gate, by your door or in your letterbox.
If you need more bags, please call the Fruit Fly Hotline on 1300 666 010.
Thank you for playing your part to help keep fruit fly out of the Riverland.