Australia: Insects and pesticides webinar provides practical tips

Avoid insect resistance by regularly changing control methods, and make sure you check minor use permits and registrations before using pesticides, was the advice from a recent webinar held to boost the industry’s knowledge of pests and diseases.

‘Insects and Pesticides’ was the second in a four-part webinar series from the levy-funded project, ‘Building the resilience and on-farm biosecurity capacity of the Australian production nursery industry’.

Webinar presenter and Project Manager, Dr Andrew Manners, provided practical tips to help nursery professionals navigate their way through the technical, and often complex, landscape of pesticide use in Australia.

Pesticides kill through a variety of means, including contact, indirect contact, product digestion and vapour spray.

In many cases, pesticides have a negative effect on beneficials, meaning nursery professionals should research additional ways to best eliminate pests. Some of these strategies include applying products with long residual activity; applying pesticides to hot spots; and grouping crop areas or refuges.

Businesses are encouraged to change techniques from time-to-time and to not rely solely on chemicals, by rotating between three mode of action groups; conserving beneficials; and monitoring pests and beneficials.

The webinar included a range of online resources to assist professionals with registration information, the number of applications per season and the toxicity to beneficials.

For instance, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) portal PuBCRIS allows users to locate pesticides data quickly and efficiently; and has regular updates on minor use permits every 6-12 months.

When searching for pesticides, Dr Manners recommends not limiting your search by ticking multiple boxes, but rather searching by active ingredient to ensure greater relevance.

Infopest is another useful portal that features all chemicals registered and approved by the APVMA, and provides useful information for nurseries about effective control of weeds, and the threat of pests and diseases to production.

This webinar, along with the first session ‘Insect Pests vs Beneficials’, is now available online via the NGIA YouTube Channel.

The next webinar ‘Leaf Spots and Pesticides’ will take place on 3 November at 9:30am AEDT.

Source: Your Levy at Work