Science and Research Updates - Pest control

Research by NSW Department of Primary Industries researchers, supported by Grains Research and Development Corporation, has paved the way for controlling diseases of legume field crops.

Those little suckers who feed on cotton plants and cause economic damage to crops could soon be managed with a new environmentally-friendly pest control.

Irrigated lucerne growers in the Tamworth, Mudgee, Riverina and Hunter regions could soon have a safe biological solution to a major lucerne pest.

Natural enemies of weeds, and insect and animal pests have a great deal more to offer in the continuing effort to reduce pesticide use in Australia, according to Dr Leigh Pilkington, the organiser of a major international conference on biological control held in Sydney earlier this month.

Research trials with a Sydney cucumber grower have found that pesticide use can be significantly reduced by making modifications to standard greenhouses.

Australia's leading bee experts have rejected an inference in a scientific paper that the devastating Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in the US may have originated from Australian package bees.

The most up-to-date fox management strategies have been collected in a new book to be launched at Orange Agricultural Institute (OAI) this Wednesday October 24 at 11.00am.

The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is preparing for battle with redfin perch after its recent discovery at new sites in the upper Lachlan, Abercrombie and Wollondilly river catchments in the central ranges of NSW.

A new research project to develop a freeze-dried form of the rabbit Calicivirus is expected to remove a major impediment to widespread distribution of the virus.

Feeding rats a varied diet early in life could help in implementing effective control programs, according to research into the impact of rats’ eating habits.