“NIASA: Nursery Industry Accreditation Scheme of

Australia - a working model” -

Giles Hardy, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia

Acknowledgement: Photos and some text sourced from NGIA Best Management Guidelines

Nursery Industry Accreditation Scheme Australia NIASA is a national, audited scheme for production nursery (growers) and growing media (potting mix) businesses which operate in accordance with a set of national Best Management Practice guidelines. • The aims of NIASA are to:

– Improve customer confidence at all levels of the distribution chain – Improve the profitability of NIASA accredited businesses through

the adoption of industry Best Management Practice – Encourage the use of environmentally sound work practices – Encourage the continuous improvement of NIASA accredited

businesses and those working towards accreditation.

Any wholesale/production nursery or growing media manufacturer can join NIASA if they implement the NIASA Best Practice Management Guidelines Guidelines are reviewed annually to remain relevant with current production and environmental issues

Value of the industry in Australia

Source: Plant Health Australia- Industry Biosecurity Plan for the Nursery Industry 2013

Best Management Practice Guidelines

Published by Nursery & Garden Industry Australia, Sydney, 2013. ISBN 978-0-9751444-7-3 © Nursery & Garden Industry Australia Ltd 2013.

NIASA

Building into NIASA is:

• EcoHort- the industry specific Environmental Management System (EMS)

• BioSecure HACCP – the industry specific biosecurity module

Together NIASA, EcoHort, and BioSecure HACCP form the nursery Production FMS designed for businesses and their future risk analysis and action planning.

‘Best Management Practices’ for production nurseries, growing media

suppliers and greenlife markets.

Guidelines have been divided into five major sections: • Crop hygiene (root disease prevention, and disease, pest and weed control); • Crop management practices (nutrition and environment control); • General site management; • Water management; and • Appendices.

Crop Hygiene • Prevention of Root Diseases (annual checks)

• Water (town water, deep bores, roof catchments require no disinfestation)

• Dam water needs disinfestation

An in-line ultra violet filter. Alstonville Palms NSW.

• pH and CEC checks of water sources monthly • Minimum contact period between water and chlorine

and bromide at lowest biocidal concentrations (2-5ppm) is 20 mins.

• Adequate records of disinfestation treatments kept (minimum is monthly)

• Chlorine (as hypochlorous acid) • Chlorine dioxide (emg/l for 8 mins) • Bromination and chloro-bromination • Ozonation • Ultraviolet (UV) radiation • Heat • Microfiltration and slow sand filtration

Crop Hygiene

Growing media/propagating media

• Routine disinfestation – no requirement if materials considered free of major pathogens or those from a source consistently tested free of specific pathogens

• Sand presents a significant risk for pathogens and nematodes if sourced from a depth less than 2 m

Composting of media

• Windrows 2-3m high and 3-4 m wide • Heaps individually separated and

marked clearly for traceability • Turned at least weekly or after they

reach a minimum internal temperature of 55 C, or higher

• Maintained at 55 C for at least 3 days • Each batch monitored for pH and CEC • 5 l of each customer batch stored in

dark at <25 C for 3 months • Entire mass of windrow must be

turned at least 3 times • Composts ready to use in 2-14 weeks

depending on materials and purpose • Composts must be pathogen tested

Disinfestation procedures for nursery growing media

• Aerated Steam: A temperature of 60ºC for 30 minutes

• Basamid: For bulk growing media, quantities of between 150–220g/m3 of Basamid® granular needs to be thoroughly incorporated into the medium preferably with the aid of soil blending equipment. Heap covered

• Soil Solarisation:

Crop Hygiene

Clean growing media storage, Zanthorrea Nursery WA.

Store on surfaces that shed and exclude runoff water and exclude contamination by soil or other contaminated materials. Bins, trailers and trolleys

Storage of media and container substrates

Crop Hygiene • Motherstock plants must be monitored for

pests and diseases – Seed

– Cuttings

– Divisions

– Working surfaces

– Tools

– Footwear

– Vehicles

– Access

– Removal of plant and growing media wastes

• Floors and Pathways

– Propagating and Production facilities (bitumen, concrete, coarse gravel

• Quarantine areas

• Potting facilities

• Plant handling

• Washing facilities

• Containers (new and old)

Crop Hygiene

Path designed as a drain

Beds and benching (clean water, water splash, tools)

• Production beds for containerised stock (designed to prevent contact of plant, roots or container with soil or water contaminated by soil/growing media)

– Coarse gravel or crushed rock (10 mm to 75 mm deep)

– Concrete, polythene or bitumen (needs to have good drainage and excellent hygiene practices)

Crop Hygiene

Weed mat over gravel over plastic

• Weed mat over soil represents a significant problem for disease control and is not sufficient

• Benches - height depends on the type of surface underneath. On sealed or aggregate surfaced floors and paths and grown in polyhouses with low precipitation rate irrigation outlets, need to be no higher than 30 cm. Where splash or other methods of contamination are likely, height should be 75 cm or higher.

Bench channel watering

Crop Hygiene

• In ground production

– Sites have to be tested free of soil-borne pathogens

– Need to have very robust quarantine

– Sites contaminated with pathogens need to be disinfested (fumigants or pasteurisation)

– Well drained and good surface drains

Crop Hygiene

Good weed control also required for in-ground production

Crop Hygiene: Disease, Pest and Weed Control

Weed control: All areas of the nursery need to be free of weeds and weed propagules

Insects and other pests, Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

IPM to be applied wherever feasible ( an aim for all NIASA businesses)

Pest monitoring and record keeping essential

Minimal dependence upon crop protection chemicals

Prevention of pathogens to a site

Prompt removal and/or disinfestation of

sick plants and other materials

Crop Management Practices Crop management practices are of equal importance to crop

hygiene criteria

Water, Irrigation and Humidity

• Water quality (pH and EC checked monthly)

• Irrigation (equipment and practice to suit needs of crop

Drip irrigation Overhead irrigation

Waste water – reused or recycled, or disposed of

A wetlands to help clean nursery run-off water

Crop Management Practices

• Growing media: should have a suitable range of properties in terms of water holding capacity, aeration and drainage

• Humidity: Humidity in atmospheres maintained in nursery structures should not exceed levels beyond which plant health becomes a persistent problem

• Wind control

• Light

• Temperature

Crop Management Practices

• Plant nutrition and Fertilising: to minimise nutrient leaching

– pH and EC testing of all growing media (records kept)

– Operator needs to supply the outgoing produce with the nutritional reserves required to maintain plants for long enough to meet needs of the purchaser.

• Root binding: If >10% of plants have roots in need of heavy root pruning or teasing then unacceptable for purposes of NIASA

General Site Management

• Professional Image and Appearance- accredited businesses look professional and are easy to work in. As a result staff have a healthy work attitude and high morale.

• Staff Facilities and Safety Measures

• Training and Continuous Improvement

• Environmental Performance

• Product Quality and Meeting Customer Expectations

Water Management All NIASA businesses must aim for efficient management of

water in order to reduce the demand on water resources and ensure minimal impacts on the environment

• Efficient irrigation:

• Top watering

– Mobile boom sprinklers

– Drip irrigation

• Bottom watering

– Ebb and flow systems

– Flood floor systems

– Capillary mat systems

Irrigation controllers

Water Management

• Waste Water Re-use: Excess water from irrigation (waste water) and storm water run-off should be collected and re-used.

– Must be disinfected

• Sediments and Litter: minimised by installing and maintaining and effective drainage system

Basic Sediment Trap

Drainage system to control runoff and minimise erosion

Water Management

• Nutrients in waste water: collected in tank or dam and diverted through vegetated filter strips, wetlands, reed beds or other systems to strip nutrients before leaving the site, or to be re-used or recycled.

• Growing areas and drains to be sealed to prevent leachate entering the soil

Wastewater in vegetated filter strip to remove nutrients

Waste water collected for re-use

Appendices

• Suppliers of growing media and ingredients

• Freedom of site from Phytophthora spp.

• Quality control for media (pH, aeration, WHC etc.)

• Internal and external audits

• Record keeping

• Site sampling for soil borne diseases (media, surrounds)

• Site sanitation for media and substrates

• Storage of media, fertilisers, additives and components

• Disinfestation procedures for growing media

Phytophthora alticola in Wheat belt Nursery

National Nursery and Garden Industry Biosecurity Plan- Risk Mitigation Plans

Barrier Quarantine (national, state, regional, nursery) State Level – movement restrictions (each state has quarantine legislation in place)

Broken down into the following categories:- • Threat Identification, Pest Risk

Assessments and Categorisation • Risk Mitigation Plan • Contingency Plans and Response

Management • Threat Summary Tables

For more about NGIA:

• https://www.ngia.com.au/

Publications:

• http://fmsmanuals.ngia.com.au/

Photo: David Hancock