Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said $4.6 million of the project was funded by the Federal Government's Rural R&D for Profit program, which funds research and development projects that deliver tangible productivity and profitability benefits for primary producers.
“Australia is lucky to be free from many of the world's most damaging plant pests,” Mr Littleproud said.
“Exotic plant pests are capable of damaging our natural environment, destroying our food production and agriculture industries, and some could change our way of life.
“Australia has a strict biosecurity system which helps protect us from exotic plant pests, however R&D projects like this where industry and governments are working in partnership, maximise our discovery of new and innovative ways to detect and manage exotic pests and diseases.
“This project will deliver practical and accessible results for farmers.”
GRDC biosecurity and regulation senior manager Ken Young said the innovative project would focus on building industry capacity, enhancing diagnostic tools and testing biosecurity preparedness — all critical elements for the protection of Australia's plant production industries.
“With 2020 being the International Year of Plant Health and COVID-19 dominating our headlines, it is a timely reminder that effective diagnostic tools and capacity are crucial to a strong biosecurity system and essential to maintaining Australia's unique agricultural status,” Dr Young said.
“This is a cross-industry Australia-wide project concentrating on high priority exotic pests that threaten production, trade and market access.
“The project has three main parts — improving the early detection of pests through increasing diagnostic capacity, enhancing the sensitivity of diagnostic tools to create fast and accurate diagnosis and testing industry and government response readiness.
“Early and accurate diagnosis enables a rapid response to threats that can have devastating impacts on production and our access to domestic and international markets.”
Dr Young said the project also aimed to develop national diagnostic protocols, improved diagnostic tools and methodologies, along with establishing reference collections to support diagnostic functions.
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