Announcing the fund in Parliament on Tuesday morning, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the past week had seen Queensland become the victim of an "ugly, calculated and despicable crime".

"The sabotage of our strawberry industry is not just an attack on hard-working growers and workers but it reaches into almost every home and school lunch box," Ms Palaszczuk said.

It follows the $100,000 reward posted by Queensland Police for any information that led to the arrest of a person responsible for placing needles in strawberries.

Six brands - Berry Licious, Berry Obsession, Donnybrook, Oasis, Love Berry and Delightful Strawberries - have been recalled nationally as fresh cases of needles found in strawberries were reported in Western Australia and South Australia at the weekend.

But Growcom, the peak national horticulture body, issued a joint statement with Queensland strawberry farmers on Tuesday afternoon saying the issue had been "mishandled" by Queensland authorities and media "hysteria" had worsened the issue.

“Fundamentally we are looking at a very small number of confirmed cases of actual tampering related to just three brands; all other reported cases have either been copycats or unsubstantiated claims,” Queensland strawberry growers industry representative Jennifer Rowling said.

Growcom representative Rachel Mackenzie said copycat incidents and reports of other fruit such as apples and bananas being affected "demonstrated how important working together and clear communication was to protect our agricultural industries".

"The poor co-ordination of the handling of this matter between the state authorities and overly emotional messages has effectively wiped out a significant sector of farming during peak season for what was effectively a very minor public health risk," Ms Mackenzie said.

On Monday, one of the affected Queensland growers shared a video of trucks dumping thousands of strawberries that could no longer be sold as a result of the scare.

Stephanie Chheang, the daughter of the owner of Donnybrook Strawberries, posted the video on Facebook.

"This is no doubt the worst thing to ever happen to my family," she wrote.

"This here is a video of our strawberries being dumped, this here is worth more than you could ever imagine and within three days we lost it all.

"My mum works day through to the night, controlling the shed and her 250 employees, making sure her strawberries are packed to perfection.

"This will not stop my family from doing what they do best. If anything they’re going to do better.

"I thank everyone who supports us and all the other farmers who were affected by this horrible issue."

On Sunday, a Sunshine Coast strawberry grower announced on Facebook that they had informed their 100 staff that they were now out of work and the farm's paddocks of fresh strawberries were being destroyed.

"Hopefully, they find out who has committed this awful crime against our industry and our favourite fruit and against Australian consumers and farmers," Suncoast Harvest wrote.

The grower urged people to think before posting unconfirmed reports of sabotage, suggesting they report them through police and health services.

"Thumbs down to the various government departments who mismanaged this into an international scare campaign. They need to be held accountable."

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said she was "gutted" for the strawberry industry.

"In a show of support, we need to be buying the strawberries, we need to be chopping them up and we need to be eating them," she said.

"We need to make sure that our community at this time really stands together against these morons who have done this to our strawberry industry.

"I want these morons to be caught and I want them to be dealt with to the full length of the letter of the law."

Ms Frecklington said she supported the $1 million fund.

The Queensland Premier said the state government would work with the industry on ways to improve the ability of growers and consumers to trace the fruit through the supply chain.

Ms Palaszczuk said she had heard reports of strawberry growers being contacted by banks, and urged financial institutions "to act responsibly and with compassion".

The strawberry industry is worth $160 million for the state, with farmers producing 60 million punnets of the fruit each year.

On Monday, Aldi announced it was returning strawberries from brands unaffected by the contamination to shelves, while other supermarkets continued the removal of fresh fruit from shelves.

Agriculture Minister Mark Furner met with farmers at Beerwah on Monday night, and wrote to his federal, state and territory counterparts for support.

Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud had earlier called for jail time for those responsible for the sabotage.

"State agencies need to throw the book at them. Whoever this idiot is is lucky they haven’t hurt anybody. I'd expect penalties to include jail time," he told Fairfax Media.

Sunday, September 9: First incident of a needle found in a strawberry reported when a Queensland man ate a strawberry with a needle inside.

Tuesday, September 11: Two additional cases of needles found in strawberries reported to police in Victoria.

Wednesday, September 12: Queensland Police and Queensland Health issue a public recall for Berry Licious and Berry Obsession strawberry brands.

The Queensland Strawberry Growers Association claims a “disgruntled employee” is behind the sabotage.

Thursday, September 13: Safety warning issued for Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory as a possible copycat incident is reported in Gatton and fresh incidents are reported.

Friday, September 14: Queensland brand Donnybrook strawberries are removed from shelves after more sabotaged punnets are reported in south-east Queensland and northern NSW.

Saturday, September 15: Queensland Premier announces $100,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the strawberry sabotage.

Sunday, September 16: Coles and Aldi pull all Queensland-grown strawberries from shelves except in WA as a precaution. Woolworths removes affected brands but keeps others available.

South Australian police issue a warning after a needle is found in a WA-produced strawberry punnet in Adelaide Hills.

Monday, September 17: An “isolated copycat incident” involving a metal object placed in a banana at a Coles in Maryborough results in a woman being given an adult caution by Queensland Police.

New Zealand halts imports of strawberries from Australia over contamination fears.

Aldi returns non-affected strawberry brands to shelves.

Tuesday, September 18: Queensland Premier announces a $1 million fund for strawberry growers in Queensland as the crisis deepens and farmers share videos of thousands of strawberries left to waste.

A West Australian supplier, Mal’s Black Label, is identified as two Perth teenagers discover another needle inside strawberries, with WA police investigating four cases across the state.