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Biopesticides emerge as an alternative cropping tool


Australia
November 19, 2014


Charles Sturt University plant pathologist Gavin Ash says grain growers in Australia’s southern cropping region can look forward to long-term benefits from non-chemical pesticides now under the microscope.

Grain growers are being urged to think about how an alternative to synthetic chemical pest control could benefit their farming systems in the long-term as part of an integrated pest management strategy.

Researchers from around the southern cropping region are finding more and more potential benefits from biopesticides, which use naturally occurring bacteria and fungi to protect crops.

Charles Sturt University plant pathologist Prof Gavin Ash (pictured) said that, as knowledge and technology progresses, more widely-available and cost-effective biopesticide options will become available to growers.

“Biopesticides that have been successfully commercialised are competitive on a cost basis with normal, synthetic pesticides. The challenge is to extend the range of available biopesticides and get new products into the market at a reasonable cost,” Prof Ash said.

“In a biopesticide there’s a whole range of different organisms; it’s basically a disease. It’s a disease of an insect or a snail, or a disease of a disease.

“The difference between a synthetic and a biopesticide is that you put it on, and that’s all you’re going to get. But a lot of the biopesticides, they kill, and then they can kill again; not forever, but for a little bit longer than a traditional pesticide.

“For example, with the nematodes that kill snails, they kill from the inside out, whereas a fungus that we’re using to control aphids grows on the outside, and that kills the insect by penetrating it and turning it into lunch.”

Research into biopesticide efficacy has been conducted throughout the southern cropping region with Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) support, with results so far demonstrating benefits like control of pests already resistant to chemical pesticides, reduced likelihood of developing resistance, precise targeting of pest species and reduced chemical residue.

While grain growers have access to some commercially available pesticides and there are Australian registrations for products based on various naturally occurring fungi and bacteria, it is hoped results from ongoing research programs will lead to a wave of commercially available biopesticides that will aid farmers in tackling priority pest and disease issues.

One GRDC-funded project has been working to identify possible widespread use of bacteria found in southern region soils that has been known to help plants resist the fungus that causes blackleg disease in canola.

A team at Charles Sturt University has been compiling comprehensive rankings of these bacteria in their effectiveness in preventing blackleg to help inform further work in developing a viable biopesticide. If successful, a bacteria-based product developed from this program could not only tackle blackleg, but combat other canola health issues and act as a growth-promoting agent.

Another GRDC-funded research project has been gathering pre-commercialistion data to inform the registration of a fungus aimed at controlling aphids in cereals and canola. The project has helped identify strains of the fungus M. anisopilae that is effective against aphids, which are now being tested in laboratory conditions, and strains of the fungus found in Australia will be viable for manufacture as an effective control measure.

Root lesion nematodes are also in the sights of future biopesticides, with field trials being undertaken in the southern region this year to help identify bacteria and fungus strains that have the potential for development into commercially available biopesticides.

The long-term goal of these research projects is to develop proven, cost-effective and sustainable pest control measures, which Prof Ash said growers should be able to incorporate seamlessly within their cropping systems.

“Biopesticides can be applied any way a normal pesticide can be applied. So they can be applied as a bait, they can be applied as a spray, they could be applied on seed, depending on the different types of biopesticide,” he said.

“These can be used with traditional equipment, or slightly modified versions of equipment a farmer would have.”

To view a video interview with Prof Gavin Ash on biopesticide development in Australia, go to http://youtu.be/xa_Oilc0BsY.



More solutions from: GRDC (Grains Research & Development Corporation)


Website: http://www.grdc.com.au

Published: November 19, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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