Tomato potato psyllid (TPP) cannot be eradicated from Western Australia, according to a national management group working on the pest. Department of Agriculture and Food WA executive director of biosecurity and regulation, Kevin Chennell, said the market restrictions would remain in place for some time.
"We've now established that TPP is widespread in the metro area of Perth," he said. "We've found it in some rural areas, we've discovered that insecticides are not 100 per cent effective against TPP. "No other country has managed to eradicate TPP, plus we've got some reservoirs of weeds where TPP can live."