Insects make a meal out of horticulture
They’re little, quiet, and highly underrated. For many people, they just don’t matter at all. But the humble insect, often overlooked, is at the very heart of a costly battle in Australian horticulture. Of course, they’re not all bad, many insects play crucial roles in pollination and soil health - we love those ones! It’s the others we have issue with – the ones that are costing Australian farmers approximately $5.3 billion each year through direct management and production losses.
Insects represent an enormous challenge in horticulture, an Advance Queensland article (2023) on how technology is being used to help tackle these pests’ states that more than 30 per cent of global food production never makes it to the table – 15 per cent of this loss due to insect pests. And that’s after more than $15 billion globally is spent on 485,000 tonnes of insecticides.
Pest control is a big business, geared around managing a big problem – the irony of which is – if we don’t get the management right the problem will only become bigger! In Queensland we have already witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of Fall Armyworm. First documented in Australia during January 2020, the damage to crops in just over four years, has been significant. And this year, a perfect storm of an early onset of the Fall Armyworm season, coupled with late-planted crops has resulted in the most severe infestation in Queensland to date.
And it’s not just Fall Armyworm growers have had a gutful of – they’re also over Fruit Spotting Bug and Fruit Fly too. So how do we manage these little guys in a way which ticks all the boxes? Minimal financial burden, minimal use of chemicals, minimal disruption to ecosystems, minimal harm to non-target species, minimal increase is resistance, minimal labour-intensity, maximum outcomes – it’s one very expensive, very time-consuming balancing act. And one we all need to work together on.
One such collaborative event is happening this week in Gympie. Arising out of increasing grower frustration of significant crop losses caused this year by these three little F’s there was a need to share practical solutions to deal with challenges and barriers in monitoring, managing and mitigating insect pests.
Topics on the table include adoption of real-time monitoring solutions, regionwide detection and forecasting for Fruit Fly and Fall Armyworm, effective scouting and control strategies for Fruit Spotting Bug, an update on Varroa Mite, and potential loss of chemistry highly effective in control of Fruit Fly in specific circumstances.
Given that insects affect entire regions, region-wide approaches using real-time sensor technology have proven effective in Bowen and Bundaberg. As the industry continues to fight to keep access to effective chemicals such as dimethoate in orchard clean up, agtech solutions like real-time sensors have and will continue to become crucial tools for growers.
There is much work to do, but pests are a battle we cannot afford to lose. After all, when it comes to feeding the nation, even the smallest players can make the biggest impact.
