00:02When customers expect strawberries to be a beautiful bright red, some fruit will always end up being rejected.
00:10But a new tiny threat is having a big impact, making berries go bronze.
00:16Biosecurity measures have failed to keep Frank Liniella in Tonza out of Australia.
00:21We have been throwing up to 70% of the fruit out in the field because it's just scarred really
00:27badly.
00:27I've been onto farms where it's 100%. They've absolutely stripped, they've had to strip all the fruit off the plants,
00:33they haven't even bothered packing it.
00:35The thrips thrive on flowers, buds and foliage across a wide range of fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants.
00:42It's been devastating. We haven't seen anything like this.
00:45The flower thrip was officially identified in April, but it may have been secretly spreading for years.
00:51It's not clear how the tiny pest made it into the country, but now that it's here, it's here to
00:57stay.
00:57So growers are working out the best plan of attack for next season.
01:02Pesticides haven't controlled it, but insect breeders are working to see if beneficial bugs that attack the thrip can take
01:08up the fight.
01:09Unfortunately, by the time we started releasing them, the numbers were so high, it didn't give the predators a chance
01:16to clean them down, knock the numbers down.
01:20In the meantime, customers can help by continuing to buy berries.
01:24If we have a season like this next year, I'm very, very concerned about the viability.
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