Australia
February 17, 2017

Leading Danish researcher Lise Jorgensen will be one of the keynote speakers at the first event kicking off the 2017 series of Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Grains Research Updates in Western Australia.

Ms Jorgensen, who is a senior scientist at the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University (Flakkebjerg), will speak on the topic of ‘Living with fungicide resistance in cereals – lessons from the European experience’ at the Geraldton port zone GRDC Grains Research Update, Mingenew, on Friday, February 24.

To be held at the Mingenew Recreation Centre from 8.30am, the program for the event specifically targets priority issues impacting on grower profits in the Geraldton zone.

Ms Jorgensen will also address this topic during the GRDC Grains Research Update, Perth, to be held at the Crown Perth on February 27 and 28.

The areas of her research include disease management; disease forecasting; fungicide efficacy and resistance in cereals and other crops; and concentrating on the optimisation and minimisation of fungicide use in cereals and fungicide resistance.

“WA grain growers are seeing the first signs of fungicide resistance to chemicals used to control plant diseases,” she said.

“Like herbicide resistance, this can lead to rapid escalations in the cost of managing disease in grain crops.

“I will discuss my research and outline management strategies used by European farmers, who have already been dealing with fungicide resistance for a number of years.

“I will also offer suggestions on how the Australian grains industry and growers can manage fungicide resistance before it becomes a major problem.”

The Geraldton port zone GRDC Grains Research Update is one of three regional one-day GRDC Grains Research Update events being held in 2017, with events also to be held in the Kendenup Lodge on March 7 and the Merredin Regional Community & Leisure Centre on March 9.

Local grower priority issues that will be addressed at the Geraldton port zone event include strategies to deal with soil compaction, putting controlled traffic farming into action, managing common crop diseases – especially sclerotinia in canola – using the best crop varieties and sowing times and dealing with frost.

The GRDC Grains Research Update, Perth, is a two-day event and WA’s premier annual grain industry forum, boasting five international experts and more than 50 presenters delivering the latest grains research and development (R&D) for WA grain growers, including interactive sessions.