It’s a wrap on MU16003 Pest and disease management and research services
Like all crops, mushroom yields can be adversely impacted by pests and diseases. However, mushrooms lack protective skins, as well as the defence compounds often produced by parent plants. Moreover, treating disease with fungicide is clearly problematic for a fungus! Added to this is a short cropping cycle, leaving little time to treat diseases mid cycle.
Prevention is better than cure very much applies here.
The team have researched and collated information on current and emerging mushroom pests and pathogens, as well as how to recognise, treat and manage them.
Research projects focussed on critical areas that would have the greatest impact on effective pest and disease management strategies, including:
Improving management of foot dips
Getting the best from cookout
Mushroom Virus X Syndrome - Patch Disease and Brown Cap Mushroom Disease
Syzygites megalocarpus – Troll Doll
Internal Stipe Necrosis
Grower engagement was a top priority over the five years, with considerable effort taken to encourage uptake of the resources and expertise that was being made available.
Despite COVID-19 disruptions, ten face-to-face workshops were delivered over five states, attracting attendees from nearly 50% of levy-paying farms. There were also numerous “phone a friend” online consultations.
Workshop topics included mushroom pathology 101, dry bubble biology and management, vectors, spot treatment training, cobweb biology and management, and on farm sampling.
Four on-farm visits allowed the team to examine vulnerabilities of different farms to pests and diseases; these visits highlighted disease hotspots and assisted farms to develop better management strategies.
A key activity of the project team has been to maintain and update the AGORA website, making it the central library of mushroom pest, disease and hygiene information. Hundreds of resources are available, including both locally produced fact sheets and articles and publications from around the world. There are also videos demonstrating sampling methods, spot treatments and pest and disease identification.
The information on AGORA provides an invaluable industry asset for understanding and managing not just pest and diseases, but the important roles of compost quality, farm hygiene and other factors.
Having such information available through AGORA has helped numerous farms manage their way through serious diseases.
Note that access to AGORA is password protected – please contact Judy Allan or Leah Bramich to obtain a login.
Information for this article has been sourced from articles and fact sheets published through the AMGA by Judy Allan and Warwick Gill, and the MU16003 final report.
This is an abridged version of the article that will appear in the magazine
