South Perth, Western Australia
October 8, 2008
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National grains industry biosecurity co-ordinator Lisa
Sherriff inspecting a barley variety trial in Katanning
with senior department technical officer Vince Lambert. |
The Department of
Agriculture and Food is widening the search for serious
exotic grain pests by enlisting the help of its Cultivar Variety
Testing (CVT) program as a pilot for field surveillance.
National grains industry biosecurity co-ordinator Lisa Sherriff
said changes to World Trade Organisation legislation now
required that countries participating in international trade,
such as Australia, must prove that specific exotic grain pests
and diseases are known not to occur.
“To achieve this, the grains industry will now need to gather
negative surveillance data for exotic, pests and diseases all
the way from farm to port,” she said.
“The department’s CVT trials provide an ideal opportunity for
additional surveillance for exotic pests as there are more than
150 trials across the State, both on research stations and on
farms.
“The trials include many grains crops such as wheat, barley,
oats and pulses.
“Data collected from the CVT surveillance will contribute to
Western Australia’s claims for area freedom, which in turn will
help to protect market access.”
Exotic pests that will be looked out for in this season’s trials
include exotic rust strains such as Ug-99 and barley stripe
rust, branched broomrape weed, and in stored grain Karnal bunt
and Khapra beetle.
Ms Sherriff said the use of the department’s CVT trials not only
provided for expanded surveillance but gave the added bonus of
increasing the chances of early detection of a serious exotic
pest.
“A key factor in early detection of a new pest incursion is that
it allows for prompt control measures to prevent its spread,” Ms
Sherriff said.
“In this way, the impact on the grains industry is lessened.”
Growers are able to report any suspicious pests and diseases to
department’s Pest and Disease Information Service on freecall
1800 084 881. |
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