Plant biosecurity

The mission of Western Australia's plant biosecurity programs is to safeguard plant resources from exotic and established pests and diseases. The Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) has adopted a 'biosecurity continuum' approach with pre-border, border and post-border biosecurity strategies as integral components of this approach.

The aim of DAFWA’s approach is to identify key threats to productivity, sustainability and market access and outline preventive and response strategies.

The management of biological risks to market access, product safety, quality, productivity and sustainability is a shared responsibility and can be managed together and cost-effectively by means of partnerships between industry, community and government.

DAFWA’s biosecurity policies and operations are targeted to facilitate safe trade, tourism and commodity movement whilst reducing exposure of the State's plant resources to exotic biological risks.

Articles

  • Onion smut (Urocystis cepulae) is a disease of onions. This disease is absent from Western Australia.

  • Late blight (Phytophthora infestans) is considered the most devastating disease of potatoes worldwide and caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s.

  • Onion rust (Puccinia allii) is a disease of plants in the onion family, including onions, garlic, chives, spring onions and leeks.

  • White rot of Allium species (caused by Sclerotium cepivorum) has been confirmed in garlic from a Perth backyard and a property in the Swan Valley.