A workshop in Canberra last week decided to begin work on a national strategy to manage insect resistance to stored grain insecticides - beginning with phosphine.

More than 40 specialists involved with grain storage - from bulk handlers, millers, marketers, the stockfeed industry, regulators and the research scientists - attended the workshop, which was organised by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and CSIRO's Stored Grain Research Laboratory (SGRL) in Canberra.

Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries ( QDPI&F) entomologist and grain storage specialist Pat Collins told the workshop Australia did have an emerging phosphine resistance problem that required action.

"Low-level resistance is widespread across the country in most of the common pests of stored grain and several cases of high level resistance have been detected in four of the five major beetle pest species," Dr Collins said.

"Since 1992, the frequency of low level resistance found in pests tested under the monitoring program has risen from less than 10 per cent to more than 60 per cent nationally, and 80 to 100 per cent in some regions.

"High level resistance now occurs in about five per cent of the pest populations tested in eastern Australia, although it has not yet been detected in Western Australia.

"If we do nothing, high level resistance could be as widespread in 10 or 20 years as low level resistance is now."

SGRL head Ray Akhurst said the significant achievement of the workshop was the recognition by the grain storage industry Australia wide that a national strategy was required.

"A working party has been established to draft such a plan, with the draft expected to be available for broader industry comment later this year," Dr Akhurst said.

A GRDC supported project, aiming to raise industry awareness of the value of phosphine and the cost of its possible loss to resistant insects, resulted in the release of a STOP brochure that was distributed to growers at phosphine retail outlets to highlight key use and safety issues when using phosphine on-farm

The corporation also supports the ongoing monitoring of fumigation failure and insect testing for resistance to pesticides and insecticides carried out by the National Working Party on Grain Protection.