SILVAN berry grower Steve Chapman is counting his luck after learning Queensland fruit fly will not be declared endemic in Victoria.
Mr Chapman said the viability of the state's berry industry would have been threatened had the Victorian Government pushed ahead with its plans to declare the pest endemic and cut funding for management.
"There is currently no effective treatment for QFF for raspberries and blackberries," he said.
"We would have had to use high-grade pesticides we are not comfortable with using.
"Managing the pest has an impact on budget costs for the government, but growers would have paid more if this plan went ahead.
"To have to spray for fruit fly when we'd never had it was not going to be a good situation," he said.
Mr Chapman said, had the plan gone ahead, his export capacity would have been limited to the eastern seaboard, preventing sales to Western Australia, South Australia and overseas.
