Plant Life Balance (PLB) is the national consumer marketing campaign within the 202020 Vision Program, for the Australian nursery industry. Since its inception, PLB has aimed to raise awareness about the benefits of plants and to deliver a return on investment to levy payers by boosting the demand for green life.

As part of the campaign, an augmented reality greening app was developed for consumers – including the most novice of plant owners – to drive engagement online and across retailers. The mission was to widely spread the wellbeing benefits of ‘going green’, and to show how plants improve our surrounds. More

Project Overview

First detected in 2015, the vegetable leafminer (Liriomyza sativae) is a pest capable of infesting a variety of horticultural crops in Australia. The fly inhibits plant growth by laying eggs inside plant leaves and stems, while maggots tunnel within and create tracks or mines which get bigger as they grow.

The industry impact of the vegetable leafminer can be significant; reducing the plant’s market value, and creating stricter import and domestic trade restrictions in areas of Australia where the pest is absent.

Since 2017, an RD&E program for the control, eradication and preparedness of vegetable leafminer has been funded by Hort Innovation using vegetable and nursery industry levies, with funds from the Australian Government. Run in conjunction with research provider, Cesar, the project aims to prepare for, and protect against, the spread of the pest throughout Australia’s key growing regions. More

Name: Chestnut blight, Cryphonectria parasitica

Symptoms:

The fungus enters wounds, grows in and under the bark, and eventually kills the cambium all the way around the trunk, branch or twig. Sunken cankers form and the bark may crack. There may be trunk and branch swelling and resin exudate. A canker may expand around the circumference of the trunk or branch resulting in wilting and eventual death of the tree or branch above the canker. Orange fruiting bodies (stroma) of the fungus are produced on canker margins. Conidiomata and later ascoma (perithecia) form in the stroma producing conidia and ascospores. More

Biosecurity is one of the key areas of levy R&D investment for the nursery industry because protecting industry assets from exotic, emerging and endemic pests and diseases is of utmost importance.

Currently, there are several nursery biosecurity projects underway. In this blog, we look at recent project updates, resources and upcoming events relevant to growers and staff. More

The nationally recognised Tree Stock standard is up for review; an initiative that could impact the nursery industry. Although not a mandatory standard, it is widely used to reduce risk and help ensure the successful establishment of container-grown trees in landscape plantings.

Having a national standard to assess the quality of container-grown trees has shown to be an important metric at instilling grower and customer confidence. Adopted in 2015, the AS2303:2018 tree stock standard is used to assess tree quality according to above-ground testing, below-ground testing and root to shoot balance.

From April 2016 to January 2017, a team from the Western Sydney University Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment travelled across Australia’s states and territory, visiting 23 wholesale nurseries; analysing the standard and the impact of varying climates and tree species. Findings indicated that the current standard was limiting, and modifications could be made surrounding the root to shoot balance criteria. For more information on the study findings, head to: http://bit.ly/TreeStocks

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Nursery & Garden Industry Australia (NGIA) is encouraging growers, retailers and supply chain participants to jump online and complete a new workforce survey, to gain a timelier depiction of employment and career development issues within the industry.

The survey is available online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/nurserycareers and will close on Friday, 30 November. All responses will be anonymous, and the aggregated data will help to inform the development of a robust strategy to better attract, retain and nurture the industry’s workforce.

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