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Major $42m initiative announced to bolster biosecurity for Australia’s grain growers

Olivia FordCountryman
The six-year National Grains Diagnostic and Surveillance Initiative is expected to improve Australia’s ability to rapidly detect and accurately diagnose exotic pests and plant diseases.
Camera IconThe six-year National Grains Diagnostic and Surveillance Initiative is expected to improve Australia’s ability to rapidly detect and accurately diagnose exotic pests and plant diseases. Credit: Tomasz Klejdysz/Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Grains Research and Development Corporation has announced it will be leading a $42.7 million national biosecurity initiative to combat pests and diseases.

GRDC chair and grain grower John Woods made the announcement for the six-year National Grain Diagnostic and Surveillance Initiative today at the Grains Research Updates in Perth.

The program, in partnership with five State Government departments, aims to improve Australia’s ability to rapidly detect and accurately diagnose exotic pests and plant diseases by identifying threats “near the paddock” instead of in centralised laboratories.

The initiative will also support the development of more than 20 biosecurity specialists across Australia, using global intelligence to predict future pest and disease risks and modernise current surveillance techniques.

Mr Woods said the initiative, a result of two years of collaborative work between GRDC and its partners, was one of the most important investments the corporation would make on behalf of Australian grain growers.

“It is powerful in the sense it has brought together the nation’s primary grain growing States in a united effort to reduce the very real risk that exotic pests and diseases pose to agriculture,” he said.

“Conservatively speaking, the potential cost to growers of an incursion in terms of crop damage, control costs and trade impact is estimated at $100m annually.

“This is why GRDC has invested $20m of growers’ money over the next six years, matched by State department investment, to transform Australia’s grains biosecurity system.”

GRDC chair John Woods announces the National Grains Diagnostic and Surveillance Initiative atthe Grains Research Updates in Perth.
Camera IconGRDC chair John Woods announces the National Grains Diagnostic and Surveillance Initiative atthe Grains Research Updates in Perth. Credit: Kelly Pilgrim-Byrne/Supplied

Mr Woods said accuracy and timing was integral for growers when it came to identifying pests and diseases.

“Timeliness of detection and response are critical and can be the difference between cost-effective control or the devastation of an industry,” he said.

“We need to equip growers — and other key people — with the tools for fast, accurate diagnostics to enable timely management decisions that reduce the impact of these threats to the grains industry.”

The initiative will also collaborate with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to develop pest and disease risk analysis for 10 emerging pest risks, the national priority plant pests and each of the grains’ high priority plant pests.

Mr Woods said measures to protect grain biosecurity were more important than ever because of the more frequent international movement in trade and people and the increasing chemical resistance in pests and diseases.

“This important national initiative will link with new and established pest surveillance for faster detection, which will allow more responsive eradication or management plans to be put in place,” he said.

“Critically, it will also ensure we have national diagnostic protocols — or specific pest and disease guidelines for accurate identification — in place.

“Currently there are 54 exotic pests or diseases considered a high risk for the Australian grains industry, yet less than 10 per cent have national diagnostic protocols, which means accurately identifying them could take weeks.”

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