RUSSIAN wheat aphid management will be discussed during a special forum next week at Tarlee – where the pest was detected for the first time in Australia in 2016.
The GRDC interactive forum on February 10 will focus on key learnings from last year and future pest management implications for growers and advisers.
It will feature one of the world’s leading RWA research authorities, Frank Peairs, who is professor of entomology in the Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management at Colorado State University in the United States.
In addition, SARDI principal entomologist Greg Baker and visiting French scientist Maarten van Helden will provide local insights into what has been learnt regarding pest behaviour and population dynamics since RWA was first detected in May last year.
GRDC Grower Services southern regional manager Craig Ruchs says the forum will encourage open, two-way dialogue between the research sector and growers and their advisers, who will have the opportunity to share their valuable observations and experiences of dealing with RWA for the first time.
“As an industry, we have learnt so much about RWA in the short period of time since the pest was identified in May 2016,” he said.
“Coming together in Tarlee to discuss what was observed in-paddock last year will contribute even further to collaborative industry learnings regarding pest behaviour and control under local conditions.”
Although the forum will be informal in nature, Mr Ruchs says it will serve as an important platform in continuing to communicate and shape future RWA research, development and extension activities and management approaches.
Last year, RWA quickly became relatively widespread across SA and Vic graingrowing areas. It has also been detected in southern NSW and Tas more recently.
The GRDC, its research partners and other agencies have learnt a significant amount since the transition to a management approach, instigating extensive research activities to develop an improved understanding of the pest’s biology, population dynamics and behaviour under Australian conditions and to explore specific control options.
“The forum at Tarlee will be an opportunity to provide an update on some of those RD&E efforts,” Mr Ruchs said.
“It will also be a unique and valuable chance for growers and advisers to direct questions to experts who will be offering their insights at the event.”
Also attending the forum will be Belinda Rawnsley from AgXtra (formerly Peracto SA), who will present the most recent results from GRDC-funded trials on the comparative efficacy of foliar-applied insecticides for RWA control.
The GRDC is hosting two additional RWA-specific sessions at Corowa, NSW, on February 16 and Rupanyup, Vic, on February 23.
The Tarlee forum will be from 2pm to 4pm on February 10 at the Tarlee Bowling Club.
- Details: ORM 03 5441 6176.
