Biosecurity research – protecting our future

Rob Magarey

Sugar Research Australia

Strategy

Endemic pests and diseases

– Long history of BSES / SRA research

• Identifying threats and developing management options

Ongoing and largely successful

Exotic threats

– Constant presence

• Whenever a mill area grows 60% + area to one variety

– An epidemic usually occurs

– Some of these are exotics

Strategy

SRA has taken a proactive stance

• Don’t wait for the ‘horse to boltbefore shutting the gate’

• Do the research off-shore

– Collaborate with overseas scientists

» Draw on their expertise

» Work together to undertake needed research

Strategy

Since the 1980s

• BSES (SRA) worked with the PNG sugarcane industry / other countries

• Major consultancy agreements with PNG from the early 1980s

• More recent times, collaborated with Indonesia

– ACIAR-funded projects

Strategy

Aims

• Detection / identification

• Management strategies

• Resistance of our varieties

• Experience in working with threats

Recent Indonesian research

– ACIAR-funded

Focus

• Stem-borers

– IPM strategies (parasitoids)

• Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV)

– Epidemiology (transmission / spread)

– Identification

Main threats to Australia

Mosaic– Photos of mosaic

•

SCSMV

ACIAR project - Indonesia

– 5 year project: 2008-2012

Staff

• 4 ‘Australian’ entomologists

• 1 extension / business officer

• 1 publications person

• 2 pathologists

Indonesian scientists

• Pathologists / entomologists / extension

– Total budget: $530,200 – Federal Government funding

Trichogramma – egg

parasitoid

ACIAR project - Indonesia

Main targets

Moth borers:

» Chilo sacchariphagus

» Chilo auricilius

» Scirpophaga excerptalis

Sugarcane streak mosaic virus

Indonesia research

Main outcomes

Moth borers:

– Defined their distribution across Java • (931 crops surveyed)

– Showed that the current IPM strategy

is ineffective• But would be effective if Increased the dose of

Trichogramma

– Learnt more about life cycle / yield

loss

– Developed extension materials

Trichogramma on borer egg mass

1.5 cm

Indonesia research

Main outcomes

SCSMV:

– Important in Indonesia• perhaps our greatest threat

– Possibly spread by cane knives

– Rapid spread

– Not eliminated by HWT

Indonesian pest and disease field guide

Conclusions

Main outputs

• SRA staff gained experience with exotic pests and diseases

• Most important exotic threats identified

• Control measures researched / refined

• Extension materials produced

New Indonesian ACIAR project

• Sugarcane streak mosaic virus

– project 2

– Worth close to $1 m

– 2015-2019

Sugarcane streak mosaic virus

In SE Asia

• Different strains and viruses

cause mosaic

– Some have greater yield

effects

• and have different transmission

properties

• Emerging disease: sugarcane

streak mosaic virus

• Distribution of SCSMV around Indonesia

• SCSMV epidemiology – speed of spread /

build up

• Resistance testing

• Methods

• Australian variety ratings

• Define yield losses

• Rapid cheap detection method

• Effective IDM strategy

Main aims

Sugarcane streak mosaic virus

• Institutions involved

– Indonesian Sugar Research Institute

– Bogor Agricultural University

– Indonesian Sweetener and Fibre Crop Research Institute

– Sugar Research Australia

• First project meeting in April

Project 3: PNG research

• Long history under BSES / Ramu consultancy

– 1982 to now

• In 2009, collaborative research

– funded by SRDC / SRA

• Institutions

– Sugar Research Australia

– Ramu Agri-Industries

• Important threats in PNG

– Stem borers

– Downy mildew (DM)

– Ramu stunt

• Resistance tests

• Sesamia grisescens,

• downy mildew, and

• Ramu stunt

• particularly rapid testing

• Diagnostic tests

• downy mildew and Ramu stunt

• Pathogen variation with the diseases

• Update incursion management plans

Project objectives (2009-2015)

Sesamia grisescens (Nader Sallam)

• Indication of the ‘resistance’ of Australian

commercial varieties gathered

• ‘Resistance’ to Chilo terrenellus

• Rapid shade-house testingc

DM (Rob Magarey)

• Focus is rapid resistance screening

• Field trials with the latest Australian

commercial varieties

Ramu stunt (Rob Magarey

• Field trial planted in 2014 with latest

varieties

Field trial resistance research

DM pathogen variation (Nicole Thompson)

• Surveys suggest 3 taxa of Peronosclerospora are

causing DM

• taxa more closely aligned with P. sacchari and P.

miscanthi rather than P. philippinensis

• Further work to confirm these variants

• Pathogen variation vs resistance?

Downy mildew pathogen research

• Pathogen is a Tenuivirus

•

• Pathogen variation seen around PNG in

survey samples

• Researched where to sample plants

Ramu stunt research (Kathy Braithwaite)

• Current project finishes 1 May 2015

• New project submitted to SRA

• Complete rapid DM test development

• Sequence Tenuivirus

• Completion of DM pathogen variation / assay

work

• Resistance screen 2 other borers

• Scirpophaga excerptalis / Chilo terrenellus

• 2-year project finishing 30 June 2017

Future