CRC for Plant Biosecurity - award

Young CRCNPB scientist recognised in national award

K.Scott — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:24:46 +0000

Media Release: 28 November 2008

A PhD student's commitment to plant biosecurity research has won the 2009 Northern Territory Young Australian of the Year Award.

Ms Rachel Meldrum, PhD student with the Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity (CRCNPB) is based at the Diagnostic Services Division of the Northern Territory's Department of Regional Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources.

Ms Meldrum was nominated for her contribution to science and the sustainability of Australia's banana industry and said she was honoured and surprised to receive the award.

‘Personally, I am flattered to win the award given the calibre of the other nominees', she said.

‘It's not often that science is given this high-level platform, so I am grateful my research in the banana industry is recognised for its importance to all Australians'.

Ms Meldrum's CRCNPB project involves researching how the exotic plant disease (Fusarium wilt) is spread in the banana industry, and will also develop alternative quarantine strategies to minimise the economic and social impact of possible incursions.

CRCNPB Chief Executive Officer, Dr Simon McKirdy said the award was a credit to Ms Meldrum's enthusiasm and dedication, and paved the way for her to have a successful career in science.

‘Rachel is a great ambassador for young scientists, which is rewarding in a time when Government recognises Australia's future science capability is critical to a strong, thriving and innovative society', he said.

Dr McKirdy said the CRCNPB is committed to training high-quality postgraduate and post-doctoral scientists to provide the nucleus of Australia's future plant biosecurity capability.

‘We currently have 26 students enrolled in universities across Australia who are all conducting research to benefit the nation', he said.

In a time when biosecurity is emerging as a serious global issue, Australia's plant industries are relatively free of many of the plant pests and diseases that impact on agricultural industries in other countries.

‘Students like Rachel, and all our researchers focus on innovative research to ensure Australia's plant industries maintain their valuable competitive advantage in the market,' said Dr McKirdy.

‘The CRCNPB plays a vital role to enhance the scientific effort, enabling Australia's plant industries to pre-empt and, therefore, diminish the economic, social and environmental impact of emergency plant pests,' he said.

The CRCNPB is the central coordinating body for plant biosecurity research across all Australian states and territories and was established under the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres Program.

Ms Meldrum's research is supervised by staff from the Northern Territory's Department of Regional Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources and the University of Queensland.

ends

Contact: Kate Scott, Communications Officer - Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity

email: k.scott@crcplantbiosecurity.com.au tel: 02 6201 2882 or 0438 389 092

Interviews: Dr Simon McKirdy, Chief Executive Officer tel: 02 6201 2882 or 0438 389 092

Farmers dedicated to plant biosecurity

K.Scott — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:30:27 +0000

On 21 September, Kununarra producer Lachlan Dobson was announced as the Biosecurity Farmer of the Year Award in the plant category at the inaugural Farming Ahead conference in Sydney.

This award was supported by Plant Health Australia (PHA) and provides recognition for producers who implement sound biosecurity practices, inspire other farmers and encourage investment in Australian agriculture.

Lachlan manages the quality assurance and farming processes from produce grown from 120,000 mango trees and 80,000 red flesh grapefruit trees in the Kimberley’s Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA). He has been involved with biosecurity in the ORIA since the 1998 outbreak of Panama disease in the Darwin banana growing area. He was involved in the development of the Western Australian Banana Industry Biosecurity Plan and also the OrdGuard regional biosecurity plan (the first of its type in Australia and the world).

For our overseas readers, Kununurra is the heart of Western Australia’s magnificent Kimberley region. Founded as part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme, the town was established in 1963. Currently through this scheme, over 16,000 hectares are irrigated with plans to expand the growing area significantly. Being remotely located at the top of Western Australia, the Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) has a privileged biosecurity status and one that local growers want to maintain. Because of the long distances to markets and the associated supply chain costs, growers in the region rely on this status. To lose it, would place a huge financial burden on agricultural businesses in the area, making some of them not viable.

Lachlan is an advocate for taking responsibility for your own biosecurity practices. He believes biosecurity starts on your own farm and growers shouldn’t rely on authorities to implement biosecurity procedures. He wants to share the message that biosecurity can be as simple as locking the farm gates and putting up appropriate signage. He calls this the ‘stepladder’ approach. For example, to reduce biosecurity risks, if the gate is at the back of the property, it’s as simple as placing a padlock on the gate and a sign with contact details. He says, people will get the message.

As part of our Education and Training Program, PhD candidates are required to have both an academic and an industry supervisor. Access to industry experience enables the students to provide industry context to their research and relate it to real life application. Lachlan is the first non-academic supervisor of a PhD project appointed by Charles Darwin University in partnership with the CRCNPB. Lachlan is supervising Mr Paul Royce who has almost completed his theses investigating communication, education and awareness of biosecurity issues within ORIA.

Lachlan also collaborates with Ms Rebecca Zappia on her PhD project which is determining what plant pathogens exist in the irrigation channels of the Ord River region and how their potential movement could impact on biosecurity in the region.

Lachlan was up against some pretty tough competition which is testament to growers who recognise biosecurity as a critical component of their farming practices.

Angus Woods from Woods Pastoral is also dedicated to maintaining good biosecurity practices on his farming component of the larger, Australian agribusiness company, The Woods Group. Woods Pastoral is comprised of four key farms located in the highly productive and premium grain growing region of southern Queensland, just 45km north of Goondiwindi. Angus specialises in the production of cereal and pulse crops into high value markets such as seed for sowing, containerised exports and stock feed. The main crops grown are wheat, sorghum, chickpeas and barley.

“Having a large operation spread across the four properties means we often share machinery and use quite a few different contractors when we plant and harvest the crops,” says Mr Woods.

“We recognised that the size of the enterprise could potentially threaten its biosecurity, via the contamination of seeds and the introduction of pests and diseases on equipment for example.”

In order to safeguard his properties from pests and diseases, Mr Woods developed and implemented his own biosecurity initiative – a Full Traceability and Quality Assurance (FTQA) System.

The other finalist in this category were Peter and Sandra Young who own Birdwood Nursery Fruit Trees, a production nursery situated on 60 acres in Woombye, Queensland. The nursery was initially purpose built by Peter and Sandra to produce avocado trees tested free from root rot disease (Phytophthora cinnamomi).

Birdwood Nursery started operations during 1978, when Peter identified a need across the horticultural industries for high-quality, disease-free fruit trees. Peter and Sandra commenced growing all tree stock under the Avocado Nursery Voluntary Accreditation Scheme (ANVAS), in which they were foundation members. The couple has since attained accreditation from the Nursery Industry Accreditation Scheme Australia and EcoHort Certification. During 2009, Peter and Sandra introduced biocontrol agents to the nursery to augment their integrated pest management system.

The CRC congratulates all finalists on being recognised for their commitment to plant biosecurity.

Image caption: Lachlan Dobson shows CRC CEO Dr Simon McKirdy the planned expansion area for the Ord River Irrigation Area.

Award for farm biosecurity

VANMEURSA — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:46:43 +0000

The 2009 Australian Rural & Outback Awards was launched last Thursday in Canberra. This is the inaugural year for the Australian Rural & Outback Awards, developed to recognise the incredible achievements of people and their communities across rural and remote Australia.

A Farm Biosecurity Award will feature as one of the Australian Rural & Outback Awards, to recognise exemplary biosecurity practices in outback and rural Australia. Producers will have the potential to win $2,000 for their efforts at implementing or educating others on Farm Biosecurity measures. Nominations are now open online at http://www.awardsaustralia.com/ or phone 1300 735 445.

The Award is sponsored by Farm Biosecurity, a joint initiative of Plant Health Australia (PHA) and Animal Health Australia (AHA) that enables both organisations to communicate with their members, and ultimately all producers, about ways to reduce the risks associated with common biosecurity related issues on farms.

The Farm Biosecurity program encourages all producers to secure their property by exposing them to ways in which their property may be under threat. It then explains how, in the course of everyday farming, risks can be mitigated. All producers have a key role in protecting their business from pests, weeds and diseases.

Plant Health Australia are excited about being able to highlight farm biosecurity through the Australian Rural & Outback Awards, believing it will help promote the biosecurity cause to a wide audience and shine a spotlight on those leading the way on better on-farm biosecurity practices. These contributions ensure protection, sustainability and biodiversity of Australia's agriculture industry.

For more information about the Farm Biosecurity program, visit http://www.farmbiosecurity.com.au/, or call PHA on 02 6260 4322.

Paving the way for a science career

K.Scott — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:15:23 +0000

As a young girl searching for ladybeetles and butterflies around her suburban Darwin backyard, Rachel Meldrum was on her way to becoming a leading Australian plant biosecurity scientist.

Rachel, a CRCNPB PhD student recently won the prestigious title of the 2009 Northern Territory's Young Australian of the Year. In an arena where generally sporting celebrities and social workers are recognised, Rachel was anonymously nominated for her contribution to science in the Northern Territory.

Rachel's interest and enthusiasm in science began from an early age. She was inquisitive about nature, and how the pieces worked together to bring a complex, yet beautiful environment. In particular, Rachel wanted to investigate plants and how they grew and contributed to this intricate environment.

To learn more about science, Rachel became a member of CSIRO's Double Helix Club, becoming an avid reader of their newsletters as well as other books on science.Her self motivation to pursue science as a career is a reflection of her enthusiasm for discovering the unknown and challenging current theories. Throughout high school, Rachel excelled at all sciences including biology, physics, chemistry and also maths.

At Charles Darwin University she studied a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Biochemistry and Chemistry and First Class Honours in Plant Health. She was certainly on her way to a successful career. After graduation, Rachel began a two-year traineeship with the Northern Territory Government with placements in plant health and even a stint in fisheries where she managed her own research project.

This award is not Rachel's first award. She is highly decorated for a student of such a young age winning the 2007 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Young People in Agriculture Award. In April 2008, Rachel also won Northern Territory Young Achievers Award in the Science and Engineering Category.

Rachel began her PhD with the CRCNPB in February this year and is researching how the exotic plant disease (Fusarium wilt) is spread in the banana industry, and will also develop alternative strategies to minimise the economic and social impact of possible incursions.

Perhaps the most poignant part of Rachel's research is her commitment and local passion for the place she grew up and calls home - the Northern Territory. Rachel hopes that her research will provide positive outcomes for the Northern Territory banana industry through impact management and improved on-farm practices.

Overall, Rachel's research is fundamental to sustaining Australia's healthy banana industry and we wish her the very best of luck in the Young Australian of the Year Awards Ceremony in January 2009.

More about Rachel's award

More about Rachel's research project

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