Building the resilience and on-farm biosecurity capacity of the Australian production nursery industry (NY15002)

What was it all about?

This investment, which ran from 2016 to 2020, enhanced the biosecurity preparedness of the Australian nursery industry by developing a range of resources to assist the Australian production nursery industry bolster their biosecurity efforts. Biosecurity capacity was improved by creating and updating pest-specific contingency plans, as well as conducting a biosecurity simulation which highlighted areas for further research.

Key project activities included…

Production of content for the industry’s Pest Identification Tool (pestid.com.au)

The industry’s pest identification tool (pestid.com.au), an online photo database of pest and disease symptoms, was updated throughout the life of this project.

Delivery of biosecurity-focused webinars

A total of 28 workshops (attended by 615 participants) and 14 webinars (attended by 263 and viewed online 9,400 times) were completed covering various aspects of pest and disease management.

Grower feedback from the workshops and webinars was positive, with benefits from implementing recommendations such as increased crop monitoring, reduced weed populations, informed pesticide selection, and general plant health improvements.

Updating grower resources

Resources were developed specifically for use by growers, including 22 factsheets, 9 pest management plans and 5 nursery papers. These are available using the links below.

Running diagnostics

More than 2,300 samples were received by the diagnostic service Grow Help Australia (GHA) from production nurseries across Australia. High use of the diagnostic service indicated that the recommendations were relevant, resulting in reductions in pest / disease incidence, improved crop health and lowered management costs.

Biosecurity simulation

The biosecurity simulation Exercise Fastidious was successful. Representatives from the government, research organisations and the plant health and nursery industry participated, considering a scenario for if Xylella fastidiosa were detected in Australia. 

The simulation results identified areas for further research and resulted in additional funded projects. There were also flow on effects to other aspects of biosecurity policy, including an increased understanding of how the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed would function in relation to pathogen and vector complexes.

The work undertaken in this project has led to the development of a subsequent levy-funded project Resourcing, supporting, and assessing biosecurity in nursery production (NY20000). This project will provide greater support to production nurseries wanting to access diagnostic services. It will also assess the impact of nursery hygiene practices on pest and disease incidence post-sale and post-planting.

ACT NOW

This project developed a range of resources to help growers manage common pests and diseases.

The Pest Identification Tool from the Nursery & Garden Industry Queensland has been designed to assist horticultural industries in identifying and treating pest insects, diseases, disorders and weeds. It also includes information about beneficial insects as biocontrol treatments.

Watch all of the 14 webinars held which covered various aspects of pest and disease management.

Multiple resources were developed specifically for the Australian production nursery industry, including these fact sheets, pest management plans and nursery papers:

Fact sheets

• Aphids
• Boring beetles, weevils and moths fact sheet
• Botrytis fact sheet
• Dutch elm disease
• Exotic invasive ants fact sheet
• Fungicide resistance management fact sheet 
• Gall-producing insects fact sheet
• Gummy stem blight on curcubit transplants
• High health grafting and budding fact sheet
• Managing leaf beetles in production nurseries
• Managing fungal leaf spot pathogens in production nurseries
• Managing scarab beetles in production nurseries
• Pest contingency plan: Glassy-winged sharpshooter
• Scale insects fact sheet
• Scale insects: A different problem that can be managed
• Southern red mite fact sheet
• Thrips fact sheet
• True bugs fact sheet
• Water disinfestation fact sheet

You can also access all fact sheets produced by past and current projects here.

Management plans

• Contingency plan on southern red mite
• Contingency plan on black bean aphid
• Contingency plan on exotic invasive ants
• Diagnosing and managing non-pathogenic disorders in production nurseries
• Managing gall-inducing insects in production nurseries (management plan)
• Pest management plan for aphids in production nurseries
• Pest management plan on leaf spot pathogens
• Pest management plan on lepidopteran pests
• Thrips: A pest management plan for production nurseries.

Nursery papers

• Baiting for Phytophthora and Pythium in production nurseries (a 2016 Nursery Paper)
• Endophytes and latent pathogens - implications for the nursery industry (a 2017 Nursery Paper)
• Nursery article on how to develop a personalised pest management plan
• Rust diseases and their management in production nurseries (a 2018 Nursery Paper).

Webinar recordings

• Root pathogens webinar
• Leaf feeding insects webinar
• Phytotoxicity: how is it caused and how can it be managed
• Pesticide selection for resistance management
• Virus identification and management
• Leaf spots and fungicides, with a written webinar recap also available 
• Comparing fungal and bacterial leaf spots
• Insects and pesticides
• Identifying pests and beneficial insects and mites
• Mite identification and management

All webinars are also available in a YouTube playlist here.