THE movement of locally produced fruit will be monitored following an outbreak of Queensland fruit fly near Cobram, in Victoria's north.

The Department of Primary Industries declared a 15km suspension zone around the detection site and will monitor fruit destined for Melbourne, South Australia and Western Australia.

Fruit for these markets will be treated before it is moved from the suspension zone. DPI senior plant standards officer Bill Ashcroft said it was critical to prevent the pest from spreading and to minimise impact on production.

"DPI teams will visit all properties within the outbreak zone to apply bait into the canopy of suitable trees to attract and kill fruit flies," Mr Ashcroft said.

"The teams will visit properties weekly for a period of up to 12 weeks," he said.

Mr Ashcroft said residents could help by providing easy access to their backyards and by not removing any home-grown fruit from their property unless it is cooked.

Alternatively, unwanted fruit can be picked, placed in a plastic bag and either put in a freezer for two days or left in the sun for at least five days to kill the maggots.

The bag can then be disposed of in the garbage.

Most fruits can host the Queensland fruit fly.