Western Australia
June 22, 2015
Students from WA College of Agriculture - Harvey prepare a farm biosecurity action plan with guidance from Department of Agriculture and Food staff.
The Department of Agriculture and Food is taking the farm biosecurity message to the classroom as part of a program to engage the next generation of agriculture leaders.
Department staff recently conducted a workshop with WA College of Agriculture - Harvey students on the importance of farm biosecurity and how to undertake general biosecurity surveillance.
The workshop was part of a department project on E-Surveillance for pests and diseases in the WA grains sector, which has a focus on the development of new technologies that enable more efficient recording, reporting and investigation of new crop pest and disease detections.
E-Surveillance is a sub-project of the department’s four-year $20 million Boosting Biosecurity Defences project made possible by Royalties for Regions.
Department grains industry development officer Laura Fagan said the education component of the project aimed to build a network of people committed to surveillance that helps protect the State’s farming sector from exotic pests.
“The department joined forces with Carey Hobson from the Livestock Biosecurity Network and Harvey Agricultural College staff to present a workshop program intended to inspire agricultural students to be proactive about biosecurity,” Ms Fagan said.
“We introduced students to the new mobile device application MyPestGuide, developed by the department in conjunction with the Council of Grain Growers Organisations (COGGO), as a simple and cost-effective community surveillance tool.
“People are encouraged to use the app to report sightings of unusual insects.
“The app leverages increasing familiarity and engagement with mobile technologies in the community to help limit the harm pests have on Western Australia’s agrifood sector, lifestyle and environment.
“Students had an opportunity to download the app to their smart phones and road-test MyPestGuide to report an unusual or suspect exotic pest.”
The workshop also trialled new biosecurity lesson plans developed to provide students in Years 11 and 12 and university with information on farm biosecurity.
The education package includes case studies and marking sheets for teachers, and a farm biosecurity checklist and action plan assignment for students.
Teachers are able to download the biosecurity lesson plans at Making a difference in farm biosecurity – educational package and integrate them in their agriculture programs.
Feedback on the lesson plans and MyPestGuide app was positive.
“I’d definitely use it as an information tool and to help with assignments for school,” Jarrod said.
MyPestGuide app is cost-free and available from the Apple iTunes store for iPhone and Google Play Store for Android devices. More information about the MyPestGuide app is available on the department website agric.wa.gov.au.
More information about the biosecurity lesson plans is available on the department website agric.wa.gov.au by searching ‘Making a difference in farm biosecurity’.
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