Month: June 2017
Pest of the month: Bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum)
Category name: Bacteria
Importance: Emergency disease: No, however not found in Western Australia.
Symptoms: The bacterium that causes bacterial wilt is a xylem vessel coloniser which produces cell wall degrading enzymes. The pathogen multiplies rapidly in the vascular tissue and fills xylem with bacterial cells and slime, thus preventing water uptake. More
Growers are invited to attend a series of upcoming biosecurity workshops and farm walks, aimed at providing practical tips for monitoring pests and diseases as well as a step-by-step process for diagnosing unknown plant health problems.
Entomologists and plant pathologists Andrew Manners and John Duff, who specialise in production nursery biosecurity at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), are running the workshops as part of the nursery levy funded project Building the resilience and on-farm biosecurity capacity of the Australian production nursery industry (NY15002). More
Accurate mite identification is critical to protect stock, minimise throw-outs and reduce the cost of control.
These are some of the take home messages Dr Andrew Manners and John Duff from the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) delivered to nursery producers and industry representatives during a recent Mite identification and management webinar.
The one hour presentation covered a range of topics that are highly relevant to production nurseries, including how to identify common groups of pest mites, monitoring techniques, available control options and resources for further information. Attendees were given the opportunities to ask questions and participate in polls during the presentation. More
Month: May 2017
Pest of the month: Bean spider mite (Tetranychus ludeni)
Category name: Mites
Importance: Minor – sometimes important
Similar to: Two-spotted mite
Description: Egg: Minute, globular, almost transparent, can have reddish tinge. Immatures: Similar to two-spotted mite. Adult: Uniformly dark red, distinguishing it from two-spotted mite which is yellowish-green with two dark spots. In cooler climates the red overwintering phase of two-spotted mite is a lighter red than that of bean spider mite. More
Expressions of interest are being sought from nurseries interested in taking on an intern, with funding available to assist with costs during both the internship and the first year of employment if that is offered.
The Hort Innovation Internship Program is co-funded by participating businesses and Horticulture Innovation Australia using horticultural research and development levies and funds from the Australian Government.
The program is open to final year graduates in any course, providing nurseries with access not only to students who already have an interest in horticulture, but a whole range of other skills such as IT and accounting which are also vital in any business.
The all new Masterclass in Horticultural Business course has kicked off and the nursery industry is front and centre with a number of industry representatives hitting the books, keen to build their business skillset.
Around 30 industry-minded recipients will spend the next eight months gaining practical management and leadership skills targeted to the horticultural industry, enabling them to take their business and career to the next level.
The course combines the expertise of what is currently ranked the world’s number one university in agriculture and forestry, the Wageningen Research Academy in the Netherlands, with New Zealand’s specialist land-based university, Lincoln, as well as the leading Australian horticulture university, the University of Tasmania.
Several masterclass recipients were selected from within the nursery industry, Sonja Cameron from Cameron’s Nursery in New South Wales, James Edge from Humphris Nursery in Victoria and Heather Huxley from Horticultural and Landscape Supplies in Tasmania.
