Grains Biosecurity Officer Profile

Australian growers rely on effective biosecurity to protect their farms. To minimise the risk of plant pathogens and pests spreading through the transportation of seed, there are a few simple farm biosecurity practices that can boost farm hygiene when planning to sow winter crops. Prevention is better than cure, so taking the time to plan, will help minimise problems down the track.

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of biosecurity when a new pest is found in Australia? Plant pests yet to appear in Australia are called exotic plant pests, also known as emergency plant pests or EPPs for short. These come knocking on Australia’s door from time to time and, occasionally, one may gain entry. A recent example would be fall armyworm, which was detected in Australia in February 2020.

Wheat blast is a fast-acting, severe disease of wheat, caused by the plant fungus Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum (MoT), which causes bleaching of the heads. It lowers yields and can cause complete yield loss when conditions are favourable to the fungus. The disease poses an increasing threat to grain growing regions in warm, humid and wet environments.

Australian grain has a healthy export market, accounting for 16 per cent of the country’s agricultural export income. Grain quality and stringent measures across the value chain to ensure it is safe to consume help facilitate access to key export markets.

Over the last year, Murdoch University’s Post Harvest Laboratory has become home to four new research graduates who will be shedding light on a variety of issues impacting the Australian grains industry.

Phosphine resistance in grains pests is an increasing problem world-wide, and research carried out in Western Australia reveals that it’s likely to get worse as the climate warms, at least for some species.

Pest surveillance protects Australia’s position as an exporter of agricultural products by detecting pests earlier and providing supporting evidence for the absence of biosecurity threats.

Maninder Kaur, a PhD student at Murdoch University, is doing research to improve the storage life of postharvest cereal grain while maintaining its quality.

In 2019 four new PhD candidates took up studies at Murdoch University’s Post Harvest Biosecurity and Food Safety Laboratory. Research covers post-harvest grain storage, the nutritional value of lupins and soil microbial effects on the nutrition of crops.

On-farm grain storage has become a significant part of many Australian cropping operations, but stored grain needs to be managed to ensure what you put in is the same quality when it comes out.