Non-synthetic alternatives to complement pest and disease management practices in mushrooms (MU22000)

What's it all about?

This project is improving the Australian mushroom industry's knowledge of the potential of non-synthetic bioprotectants in an integrated pest and disease management (IPDM) approach. Addressing this knowledge gap will pave the way to adopting novel bioprotectants by mushroom growers and moving to more sustainable IPDM approaches.

The project will also lay solid foundations for an Australian research pipeline to produce new non-synthetic alternatives that complement IPDM practices in mushrooms.

The specific aims of the project are to:

1. Review current knowledge on the use of novel bioprotectants to control pests and diseases of mushrooms and identify products that are available to trial in Australia
2. Conduct experiments on selected available bioprotectants to determine their efficacy
3. Conduct research that brings Australian science up to speed in developing and using new bioprotectants to be used in mushroom production
4. Deliver communication and engagement activities that ensure the project's new knowledge and research outputs are easily accessible to growers and industry.