National biosecurity and sustainable plant production program (NY20001)
What's it all about?
This investment ensures Australian production nurseries are equipped with the knowledge and skills to manage, mitigate and recover from plant pest and disease incursions, adapt to climate change risks through sustainable practices and maintain business continuity.
Building on previous investment National Nursery Industry Biosecurity Program (NY15004) which began in 2016, this new 5 year program will maintain the momentum and provide on-site support for implementation of key plant protection, biosecurity and production sustainability programs such as the Australian Plant Production Standard. The project will continue to improve industry resilience to emerging threats with an emphasis on raising industry awareness and adoption of best management practices for plant protection, biosecurity and sustainable plant production. The project will mobilise a network of Plant Protection Officers to provide the extension and adoption component through grower engagement, communication and advice. These experts in plant health and biosecurity will engage with production nurseries in every Australian state and territory to improve the plant protection, biosecurity and sustainability protocols across the country.
In addition, the project will see the industry continue to have technical input, sharing nursery production R&D information, into important national committees with organisations such as Plant Health Australia, the national Plant Health Committee and National Biosecurity Roundtables.
This investment also carries out broader biosecurity-related activities for the nursery industry, including meeting industry obligations under the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD), and maintains the industry’s pesticide minor use permit program as needed.
ACT NOW
Learn more about BioSecure HACCP and how you can become certified on the Nursery Production FMS website here. The website also hosts relevant biosecurity, pesticide and plant production resources in its technical resource hub, while online training associated with the program is available via the industry’s eLearning Portal.
Plant pest identification resources are available at pestid.com.au.
The project team have delivered the following:
- Annual on-site extension engagement, exceeding targets of 1200 grower visits.
- Extension Officers have maintained regular contact with businesses to support the use of the digital production management system and the uptake of technical resources.
- Continued uptake of the Pest ID Tool with more than 570 new users in 2022 growing to a total of 2771 users.
- The Australian Plant Production Standard (APPS) Technical Library website is growing in industry use and content.
- Developed a Pest Categorisation Information Package for the Polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB)/Fusarium Sp. Complex, under the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed, which led to the successful classification of the pest to a Category 1, removing an expected industry contribution of more than $20 million under the Response Plan.
- Updated the National Plant Labelling Guidelines, originally written in 2013, and are being disseminated for industry and government review.
This project is a strategic levy investment in the Hort Innovation Nursery Fund