Integrated Pest & Disease Management Workshops

Over the past few months, RMCG has facilitated regional Integrated Pest & Disease Management workshops to reduce plastics and chemicals in NSW’s cut flower industry. 

The workshop series has seen leading IPDM experts visit 5 regional flower farms to deliver IPDM and safe chemical application education and support. 

Read on for Alex Dalley’s account of the workshop held at Mountain Nursery- a Wildflower farm located on the Mid North Coast of NSW. 

Mid North Coast Workshop at Mountain Nursery, South Kempsey

The Integrated Pest & Disease Management (IPDM) workshop recently held at our farm, Mountain Nursery on the NSW Mid North Coast was a highly valuable exercise. Ran by RMCG, funded by Agrifutures and the Aus & NSW governments the IPDM workshop took 3 specialists in crop entomology, plant pathology and chemical usage on a tour of flower farms along the east coast.

 Dr. Robert Spooner-Hart, Dr. Len Tesoriero, and Tony Bundock are experts in their respected fields and were present on the day to chat on a farm to farm basis regarding their knowledge on pest and disease management in Australian cut wildflowers. They recommended solutions and suggested various actions for a wide variety of pest and disease management strategies for attendees from various backgrounds. The day was attended by a micro farmers, nursery owners and experts in the cut flower industry. 

Some key takeaways from the day were that observations and continual monitoring are crucial to affected pest and disease management and control. These problems can vary significantly from a farm to farm basis so what works for one grower may not set a precedent for other growers of the same crops. 

Chemical intervention is undoubtedly highly effective but many people on the day were specifically interested in biological approaches to control and manage pest and disease in their own setting. 

Growers and industry professional shared their personal experiences and accounts on what has and hasn’t worked for them over the years and this left the group leaving the farm feeling interested, intrigued and generally excited to implement various strategies into their own scenarios for effective IPDM.

Interested in learning more about the project?