Managing disease in Victoria: there’s an app for that
A range of smart phone and tablet apps and online tools, developed in conjunction with Australian plant pathologists and grains researchers, are helping Victorian farmers to identify crop diseases and construct appropriate management plans with just the push of a button.
With smart phone and tablet adoption by farmers now exceeding that of the general population, more and more growers are actively seeking electronic tools and technologies that are both useful and user-friendly.
Below is a selection of some useful tools for disease management in Victoria.
Wheat
- StripeRustWM
- YellowSpotWM
Barley
- NetBlotchBM
Canola
- BlacklegCM
- UCI BlacklegCM
Wheat
StripeRust WM
The StripeRustWM app assists users to make informed management decisions about stripe rust management in Australian wheat crops. StripeRustWM draws on several years of field trials and observations, as well as experimental data and expert knowledge from researchers and agronomists to forecast the likely result and economic return of spraying for this problematic disease. StripeRustWM takes account of costs, yield benefits, grain price, and seasonal conditions to give best case, worst case and most likely estimates of financial return from a fungicide application.
Stripe rust is strongly influenced by seasonal conditions, and the app accounts for this when assessing disease risk and management options.StripeRustWM will give growers and consultants more confidence in decisions about whether to invest in spraying for the disease. The App is to be continually updated to reflect new experimental results as they become available.
StripeRustWM does not account for all factors that can affect stripe rust disease, so the information provided by this tool should be considered as a guide to possible outcomes.
YellowSpotWM
YellowSpotWM is a decision support tool designed to assist growers and advisers to manage yellow spot in wheat and assess the likely benefits of fungicide application. Yellow spot is a stubble-borne disease, with infection driven by rainfall events that release spores from retained residues and conditions that favour extended leaf wetness.
The app incorporates research data and disease epidemiology to account for the major factors influencing disease development and fungicide response. Users can input paddock-specific information such as stubble levels, crop stage and seasonal conditions to estimate potential yield benefits and economic return. The information provided should be used as a guide to possible outcomes.
YellowSpotWM was developed through a GRDC and DPIRD co-investment project focused on disease epidemiology and management tools for Australian grain growers, supporting national decision support tool development.
Barley
NetBlotchBM
NetBlotchBM is a decision support tool designed to assist growers and advisers to manage net blotch in barley and determine the potential benefit of fungicide application. Net blotch is a stubble-borne disease that persists in infected residues, with disease development favoured by wet conditions and susceptible varieties.
The app uses research data and disease epidemiology to account for the key factors influencing disease development and fungicide response. Users can input paddock-specific information such as crop stage, seasonal conditions and variety to estimate potential yield benefits and economic return from fungicide use. The information provided should be used as a guide to possible outcomes.
NetBlotchBM is part of a suite of disease management tools developed and coded by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) through the National Disease Modelling projects funded by the GRDC, with development and testing in collaboration with Agriculture Victoria and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Canola
BlacklegCM
The BlacklegCM app, was launched at the GRDC Perth Research Updates, in February 2018. It was developed by the National pathogen modelling project led by DPIRD and co-invested by GRDC.
Blackleg stem canker is a serious disease of canola across Australia. The best approach to manage blackleg in any situation depends on many factors including variety choice, yield potential, proximity to canola stubble from previous years, and several fungicide options. All of these factors have implications for costs and returns.
Although the current Blackleg Management Guide provides much useful information, it has some limitations in its current paper form. It is difficult to consider complex interactions. Consequently, there has been a need to develop a management tool that can provide disease forecasting based on the management principles proposed by the manager of an individual paddock.
BlacklegCM is a tool designed to assist growers and consultants to determine the best and most profitable management strategy to reduce blackleg disease and increase profits, accounting for the major factors that influence blackleg severity. The user can specify factors relating to paddock selection, seasonal conditions, prices and management options so that the output relates to their cropping circumstance. Therefore, the user can explore their options for disease control and understand the relative importance of each factor.
Below you can see Steve Marcroft, Marcroft Grains Pathology, explain the value of the BlacklegCM app and how you can use it to compare management strategies for your canola crop.
UCI BlacklegCM
UCI BlacklegCM is a decision support tool designed to assist growers and advisers to manage upper canopy infection (UCI) of blackleg in canola and assess the likely benefits of targeted fungicide application. UCI occurs later in the season, affecting flowers, pods and upper stems following infection during flowering and early pod development, with severity influenced by seasonal conditions, varietal resistance and inoculum levels.
The app uses research data and disease epidemiology to account for the key factors influencing UCI development and its impact on yield. Users can input paddock-specific information such as crop stage, seasonal conditions and variety to estimate potential yield benefits and economic return from fungicide application. The information provided should be used as a guide to possible outcomes.
UCI BlacklegCM was developed by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) as part of a national suite of disease decision support tools supported by GRDC investment, and complements the BlacklegCM app developed through national blackleg research programs.
