South
Queensland cotton growers will meet soon to decide how best
to manage key cotton insect pests, especially silverleaf
whitefly which last season invaded crops in the area.
A
Department of Primary
Industries and Fisheries principal research scientist,
Richard Sequeira of Emerald, said 35 representatives of
research, extension, and funding organisations met recently
near Toowoomba to review the options available to South
Queensland cotton growers in managing the cotton pest
complex.
Dr
Sequeira said the best of these options would be presented
to cotton growers at a series of advertised meetings to be
held in the area during the next two months.
“Our team
will have a matrix of management options from which growers
can choose those that best suit individual needs and
circumstances,” Dr Sequeira said.
“Our
experience shows that flexibility is the key to success in
managing silverleaf whitefly. The one size fits all approach
does not work well,” he said.
Dr
Sequeira said another outcome of the workshop was to decide
on silverleaf whitefly sampling protocols that would help
growers and consultants decide when control measures were
necessary.
“This
information will be included in a document to be distributed
to South Queensland cotton growers.”
Dr
Sequeira said greatly increased numbers of silverleaf
whitefly in South Queensland cotton last season triggered
the Toowoomba workshop.
He said
South Queensland experience was an important building block
for South Queensland management plans.
When the
silverleaf whitefly was first found in the Emerald
irrigation area in the 2001-02 season, pest management
decisions were based on US experience.
Since
then, research and on-farm experience had been used to
develop management options that suited Australian practices,
which was advantageous for growers, he said.
“South
Queensland cotton growers continue to produce profitable
crops despite initial concerns about the impact of the
insect pest.
“This
experience and research show that chemical control of one
pest species invariably impacts on others, so successful
silverleaf whitefly management in cotton requires
integrated, non-disruptive management of the entire pest
complex,” he said.
“From a
cropping systems point of view, we need to manage silverleaf
whitefly effectively in cotton before we can manage it in
South Queensland sunflowers and other summer crops.
“Insect
growth regulators are non-disruptive products that have
played a pivotal role in managing silverleaf whitefly, but
there are other products that can also be an important part
of a comprehensive management strategy,” Dr Sequeira said.
He said
as well as cotton, silverleaf whitefly were found on a range
of ornamental plants and weeds, and were a significant
problem in Queensland vegetable crops.
“The pest
can retard plant growth, create honeydew problems in cotton,
spread viruses, and rapidly develop insecticide resistance,”
he said.
