Monday 21 January at 8 am
Green Room, QDAF Conference Centre, 203 Tor St, Toowoomba.
In October 2018, detections of Russian wheat aphid (RWA) were made in Cowra, Forbes, and Condobolin on the Liverpool Plains, and Coonabarabran. NSW DPI Biosecurity reported these detections (read the document here). The map below shows the location of RWA detections in NSW.
No detections have yet been made in Queensland.
RWA has been confirmed at these NSW locations.
In response to this expansion of range, GRDC has asked entomologists with the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), who are currently working with RWA, to undertake a survey through the northern region (NSW and southern Qld) to assess how far north RWA may have spread, particularly because the very restricted cereal plantings in 2018 may have made detection in winter cereals difficult.
The SARDI entomologists, Dr Maarten van Helden and Tom Heddle, will be available to discuss all aspects of RWA management at a meeting for growers and agronomists in Toowoomba at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) conference centre on Monday 21 January, starting at 8am. Dr van Helden is leading the GRDC investment in RWA research in southern Australia.
For more information, contact Melina Miles, DAF Entomologist on 0407 113 306.