Australia
July 3, 2013
Valuable Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) research results into pulse diseases are now at the fingertips of the grains industry and research community.
The final report for GRDC-funded project Reducing the impact of pulse diseases in the northern region, carried out by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Queensland (DAFFQ) is now available online at www.grdc.com.au.
GRDC senior manager plant health, Dr Rohan Rainbow, says pulses and sunflowers remain a very important component of the varied farming systems in the GRDC northern region, and are conservatively estimated to be worth $170 million per annum at the farm gate and $500 million per annum after value-adding.
Dr Rainbow says diseases remain a significant impediment to the achievement of maximum yield potential of pulses (chickpea, peanut and mungbean) and sunflowers.
“The researchers in this project worked closely with public and private breeding programs to identify sources of resistance to the major diseases of pulses and sunflower that dominate in the region,” he says.
“Through varied surveillance activities, a watching brief on pulse and sunflower diseases was maintained and a timely and appropriate response was made to several significant disease outbreaks.
“Information on the biology and management of diseases was extended to growers.”
Dr Rainbow says the research is important as pulses provide an important disease break in cereal and sugarcane farming systems by reducing soilborne disease levels and improving soil health through their impact on nitrogen levels.
A variety of diseases impact on the production of pulses (mungbean, peanut and chickpea) and sunflowers in the northern region.
During this project the focus was on developing and delivering management strategies to combat the pathogens responsible for these diseases, and maintaining a watching brief on, and responding to, outbreaks of endemic diseases, he said.
“Making the report available online is part of a new GRDC initiative to increase accessibility to research results but readers should be aware the results may have been superseded by more recent research.”
To view GRDC final research reports, visit http://finalreports.grdc.com.au/final_reports.php.
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