A pest risk assessment was carried out using all available information found in the literature and also two softwares developed by the CSIRO, CLIMEX and DYMEX. CLIMEX was used to assess the suitability of the climate in Australian rice growing area for each pest/disease and then when necessary and possible, a pest/disease model was created with DYMEX and run with Australian climatic data. The Australian climatic conditions and/or the rice growing practices were found to be unfavourable for the majority of the exotic diseases. However, two diseases of rice (rice blast and kernel smut) and one plant parasitic nematode genus (root nematodes) were identified as having the potential to threaten the Australian rice industry if ever introduced in south eastern Australia.

This publication includes chapters on - Introduction to the coconut palm; Locating and collecting coconut germplasm; Germplasm conservation (complementary conservation and gene banks in various locations, cryopreservation research and poverty reduction among coconut growing communities); Characterizing diversity (morphometric, biochemical and molecular methods); Germplasm use (conventional breeding, breeding for drought tolerance, use of molecular markers, evaluation of hybrids and varieties; farmers' varietal preferences and coconut micropropagation); Major pests and safe movement of germplasm Information (coconut lethal yellowing, germplasm movement and pest risk assessment), public awareness, institutional support and partnerships (genetic resources databases, catalogues of germplasm, products and recipes, public awareness initiatives, research support and research networks); COGENT's regional network reports; and Country reports on status of coconut genetic resources research South Asia

The Community Rainforest Reforestation Program (CRRP) and other planting programs included in their aims the long-term expansion of forest industries in north Queensland with the production of high quality rainforest timbers in plantations. Plantation productivity (survival, growth rate, form and yield) and quality of the timber product are influenced in part by plantation health which can be adversely affected by insect pests and diseases. Plantation development planning should include an assessment of the potential risks due to pests and diseases and site-related problems, facilitating appropriate species choice. Once established, regular plantation health surveillance should be incorporated into the management program, enabling early intervention where appropriate. A plantation health surveillance program: identifies pathogens, insect pests and their parasites and predators; enables early recognition of health change; identifies predictive patterns of pest and disease activity; facilitates the correlation between plantation productivity and pests and diseases; and contributes to a valuable bank of knowledge. Hardwood plantation research has recognised serious pests such as tip moths of the Meliaceae family as well as wood boring beetles and moths, sap sucking bugs and beetle defoliators associated with several tropical and subtropical eucalypts. Diseases such as Cylindrocladium leaf blight, Phellinus noxius and phytophthora root rot are also potential threats to rainforest replantings. Risk assessments and health surveillance were not conducted in the CRRP plantings, missing an opportunity to identify and manage the threat of pests and diseases in rainforest reforestation programs. Examples of appropriate risk assessment and health monitoring in hardwood plantation programs are the Department of Primary Industries’ Joint Venture scheme and Hardwoods Queensland project.

Pest risk analysis (PRA) is a tool used in plant health to assess risks of quarantine pests or other organisms harmful to plants and to identify options for their management. Standards of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO) are available to facilitate the procedure of PRA. Recent amendments of these standards allow a better analysis of risks posed by plant pests to biodiversity and the environment. By this, the regulation of species that threaten biodiversity (invasive alien species) can be technically justified according to the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement under the World Trade Organisation. At present, in particular risks of invasive alien plants are in the focus of adapting PRA in Europe. There are several differences between the assessment and management of pests directly harmful to cultivated plants and pests threatening biodiversity or the uncultivated environment. In many cases, the identification of (potential) invasiveness is very difficult. For the assessment of economic importance of environmental risks, several methodologies are provided that differ from the conservative economic assessment. In contrast to the 'traditional plant pests', which are introduced unintentionally, alien plants are usually introduced intentionally. Planting them into intended habitats usually does not pose any problems, only very few species spread into unintended habitats and have adverse effects. For selection of management options a differentiated approach is necessary, including the prohibition of introduction of significantly risky plants and the obligation for specified requirements to restrict their spread.

A recombinant baculovirus insecticide, AcMLF9.ScathL, has been constructed that expresses a cathepsin L-like protease. This protease degrades the basement membrane of infected-lepidopteran larvae. AcMLF9.ScathL kills larvae significantly faster than the wild type baculovirus. Before field trials can be conducted with this virus, risk assessment studies are required to examine the potential impact of the virus on nontarget organisms. We examined the impact of AcMLF9.ScathL on the survival, development, and behavior of the parasitoid Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson) that parasitizes infected second instar larvae. Larvae of Heliothis virescens were exposed to the parasitoid and infected with the wild type or recombinant virus at >LD99 at 72, 96, or 120 h after parasitism. Control larvae were mock infected. Choice tests showed that infection with AcMLF9.ScathL did not affect the host preference of the parasitoid. At 72 h post-parasitism, the survival of parasitoids emerging from hosts infected with AcMLF9.ScathL was lower than for parasitoids emerging from hosts infected with wild type virus or uninfected controls. There were no significant differences between AcMLF9.ScathL and wild type virus treatments for the larval emergence time, adult emergence time, sex ratio, size, and fecundity of C. marginiventris. These results indicate that use of AcMLF9.ScathL in insect pest management poses a slightly greater risk to the parasitoid at early stages of parasitoid development than use of the wild type virus at >LD99 dose.

Mango stone weevil (MSW), Sternochetus mangiferae Fabricius, is a widely distributed monophagous pest of mango. Assessment of the potential of non-pesticidal controls has indicated few alternatives to the use of insecticide sprays for control. Field studies were conducted over 3 years to evaluate the efficacy of selected synthetic, botanical and animal-origin insecticides in reducing MSW infestation in Alphonso mango. It was found that four synthetic insecticides-deltamethrin, acephate, carbaryl and ethofenprox-obtained levels of infestation of between 3.3% and 14.8% at harvest, in contrast with a level without control of 33.0%. Two biological-origin insecticides-azadirachtin (of plant origin) and fish oil rosin soap (of animal origin)-obtained intermediate levels of control, of 27.4 and 23.0% respectively, which were not significantly superior to no-treatment. In order to assess the reliability of pre-harvest evaluations, to address the risk of harvest data being lost, information was also gathered of infestation of mangoes in early and late seasons prior to harvest. Although the rank-ordering of controls in their performance varied between early season, late-season and harvest assessments, the pre-harvest assessments reflected the superior control by synthetic insecticides to that by agents of natural origin.

Pome fruit are grown in all temperate regions of the world. However, extensive cultivation of these fruit is limited in many countries due to the highly destructive disease fire blight, caused by Erwinia amylovora. Current control programs of fire blight rely on a preventative approach through effective plant quarantine systems, early detection of the pathogen and well-managed disease control strategies. The inability to effectively control and eliminate this disease has resulted in severe economic losses, particularly during major outbreaks. Complete eradication of fire blight is possible only if a small area is affected, if the disease is detected early and subsequently contained, as was the case in Australia. Countries free from fire blight currently rely on strict quarantine measures to prevent introduction of the pathogen. However, according to the SPS Agreement of the World Trade Organisation, quarantine measures should not be used as technical barriers to trade and should be based on risk assessment (RA) studies. In this study, a RA model was developed for South Africa to determine the likelihood of the pathogen being introduced into the country. Two case studies were discussed. The studies indicated that the pathogen was a major quarantine pest for South Africa and that its introduction may have severe consequences for local pome fruit industries.

Dissertation (MInstAgar (Crop Protection))--University of Pretoria, 2005. | Pome fruit are grown in all temperate regions of the world. However, extensive cultivation of these fruit is limited in many countries due to the highly destructive disease fire blight, caused by Erwinia amylovora. Current control programs of fire blight rely on a preventative approach through effective plant quarantine systems, early detection of the pathogen and well-managed disease control strategies. The inability to effectively control and eliminate this disease has resulted in severe economic losses, particularly during major outbreaks. Complete eradication of fire blight is possible only if a small area is affected, if the disease is detected early and subsequently contained, as was the case in Australia. Countries free from fire blight currently rely on strict quarantine measures to prevent introduction of the pathogen. However, according to the SPS Agreement of the World Trade Organisation, quarantine measures should not be used as technical barriers to trade and should be based on risk assessment (RA) studies. In this study, a RA model was developed for South Africa to determine the likelihood of the pathogen being introduced into the country. Two case studies were discussed. The studies indicated that the pathogen was a major quarantine pest for South Africa and that its introduction may have severe consequences for local pome fruit industries. | Microbiology and Plant Pathology | mixed | Natural and Agricultural Sciences