Australia
October 17, 2007
Source:
GRDC's The Crop Doctor
With biosecurity a major issue for
the grains industry, post-harvest integrity has become a focus
for the GRDC supported CRC National Plant Biosecurity (CRCNPB),
which is dedicated to developing a national approach to
controlling insect pests of grain.
Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) are an Australian Government
initiative to stimulate commercially focused research to benefit
Australian business and aim to foster interaction between
business and researchers to develop new products and services. A
priority of CRCs is to strengthen an industry’s skills base by
producing industry-ready graduates and providing on-the-job
experience.
The GRDC and Australia’s
three major grain companies, CBH, ABB and Graincorp, obtained
Australian Government funding, resulting in a doubling of funds
available to research grain storage problems.
This partnership now forms a grains industry advisory committee
to the CRCNPB, ensuring effective grower and industry input into
resource allocation.
At the recent GRDC supported Grains West Expo in WA, CRCNPB Post
Harvest Integrity Program Leader and Entomologist, Dr Pat
Collins said the CRCNPB would bring together researchers from
state departments of primary industries, CSIRO and universities
to focus on outputs to benefit the grains industry.
CRCNPB projects address a number of industry priorities:
phosphine resistance management; development of rapid, accurate
diagnostic tools for identifying quarantine pests and
resistance; development of next generation insect sampling and
detection systems; understanding insect pest movement and
ecology to underpin better pest management systems; alternative
control technologies; more flexible storage systems.
Dr Collins explained that the Australian grains industry relies
almost solely on phosphine fumigant to keep its product
insect-free and there was no practical alternative to phosphine,
as other chemicals were limited or costly
However, some insects have developed strong levels of resistance
to phosphine and this threatens continued grain quality and
market access.
If resistance established across Australia it would cost the
grain industry about $90 million a year.
The industry has a small window of opportunity to research and
implement resistance management before strong resistance to
phosphine is out of control.
This investment in research by GRDC, CBH, ABB, Graincorp and the
Australian Government will not only provide phosphine resistance
management options, but will also develop new alternative
technologies and strategies to be the basis of insect control in
the future.
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The Crop Doctor is
GRDC Managing Director,
Peter Reading |
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