Recent discoveries of the pest, whose larvae eat towards the centre of fruit they have infested causing it to rot, have alarmed growers in the region. The fly, established in parts of the state, is estimated to cost $300 million a year in lost food production in Australia, according to the Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre.

But the heartbreak for home growers and self-providers who see crops of stone fruit, apples, quinces tomatoes or citrus full of maggots after investing expensive water and gardening work will be equally as devastating.

Agriculture Victoria has established fruit fly action plans and regional governance zones in recent years, but this year's warm and humid summer, rather than the usual dry and hot, means the pest has moved into the region, with maggots uncovered in fruit at Clunes.

Whether it is effective without adequate on-the-ground support form local councils and state officers remains to be seen.

Terry Willis is a member of the Ballarat Permaculture Guild and grows fruit at Harcourt.

He says the pest is well-established in the Bendigo region and with a warming climate it's only a matter of time before Ballarat is affected.

Mr Willis says it's most likely the pest is spread by people transporting infected fruit into towns, rather than the fly moving itself, although it can travel some distance.

"There haven't been cases of it slowly marching down south from Bendigo through Ravenswood to Ballarat," Mr Willis says.

"It's basically been dropped in. It could be, you know, Aunty Beryl giving someone fruit from the family tree and they've taken it home, seen there are maggots in it, mucky, brown and rotten on the inside, so they throw it on the compost, or on the ground, or throw it away. This gets the maggots into the ground, they pupate and the whole cycle starts."

Mr Willis says the Queensland fruit fly is starting to acclimatise, and is adept at finding warm places to spend the winter, like the inside of hot water systems.

"People who are looking out for it, who know they have it, or isolated pockets of it, talk to each other. It's the people who don't know they've got it - that's the issue.

"The big growers, they have nets and spraying regimes, they control their own turf. It's the fruit fly living in the towns undetected affecting local orchards. That's how it works: 'lives in town, reinfects commercial orchards.'"

Tara Hewitt is a Strategic Projects Manager for Plant Health at Agriculture Victoria.

She says there have been no official local reports yet of fruit fly, but Agriculture Victoria is aware of social media declaring the arrival of the pest, and says one was caught in Ballarat in a trapping trial in February.

"I think the key thing in educating people, all through the state, is to follow good hygiene in your own garden," Ms Hewitt says.

"Pick fruit and vegetables as they ripen. And don't leave them out there, dispose of unwanted fruits and scraps carefully. That doesn't mean throwing them on the ground or in the compost. Put them in bags, leave them out in the sun, that's one way to destroy them."

Terry Willis says a community approach is vital, if Ballarat is to keep the pest in check.

"This is where I think councils can play a big role," he says.

"I'm a big believer councils can play a role because they know the town. They've got systems and people employed that could do this. I think if government funding was put towards funding a fruit fly officer, or pest officer, at the council, then they could actually drive awareness and coordination of resources and media in an outbreak. That's what I'm doing, that's my defacto role, in Mt Alexander.

"It's like health education: you give people information upfront, you tell them what to do, you give away monitoring traps - and you get results."

Go to Agriculture Victoria for more information

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