As the cotton season gets underway aphids are starting to be detected in crops, on ratoons, volunteers and weeds. Last season, there were some regions where Cotton Bunchy Top (CBT) was detected in crops towards the end of the season. To assess and manage the risk of yield loss caused by CBT, and minimise the difficulties of controlling insecticide resistant… Read more »
Farm hygiene underpins the successful management of a number of major pests. The recent appearance of solonopsis mealybug has highlighted again the importance of farm hygiene. We already know from past experiences with silverleaf whitefly, aphids and bunchy top that it makes economic sense to keep on top of weeds and volunteer cotton. Good farm hygiene over winter is an investment in next season’s crop.
The most critical issues we face in managing cereal aphids currently is the lack of local knowledge about the likely impact of infestations on yield and quality (the damage thresholds). (http://thebeatsheet-ipmnews.blogspot.com/2008/09/cereal-aphids-in-wheat-and-barley.html).
Cereal aphid numbers have increased rapidly over the past 3 weeks as the temperatures have increased. Whilst low numbers of aphids have been present in many crops (wheat and barley) for some time, it was not until a couple of weeks ago that numbers reached levels of concern to agronomists and growers. Until the last few seasons, cereal aphids have… Read more »
David Murray, Toowoomba Farm hygiene is an important component of integrated pest management (IPM), particularly when it comes to managing pests such as cotton aphids and Cotton Bunchy Top (CBT) disease. Recent surveys of cotton-growing areas indicate the presence of aphids and CBT, and wetter conditions through the coming winter could favour the growth of weeds that are… Read more »
Making decisions about control of Cereal Aphids This post is an update on cereal aphid management following a number of enquiries from growers and agronomists over the last week or so. Which species in crops? There are two species of aphid you are most likely to encounter in winter cereals (oats, wheat and barley). They are the oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum… Read more »
Aphid control decisions tend to be more problematic in moisture stressed winter cereal crops, since in a well supplied crop the level of moisture extracted from the crop by aphids is of little concern. However, in dry times every drop seems precious. Had we not received the recent rain over the last few days throughout southern Queensland and northern NSW… Read more »
