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

  • Polyphagous shot-hole borer (PSHB) Euwallacea fornicatus is a beetle native to Southeast Asia. The beetle attacks a wide range of plants by tunnelling into trunks, stems and branches.

  • Be on the lookout for the polyphagous shot-hole borer

  • Psa (Pseudomonas syringae pv.

  • The Biosecurity Blitz is an annual event that runs from 16 October - 16 November.

  • DDLS Seed Testing and Certification is responsible for administering the industry seed potato production schemes in Western Australia.

  • Bacterial wilt of lucerne (Clavibacter insidiosus) is a disease that reduces the lifespan and productivity of lucerne stands. It also makes lucerne crops hard to establish.

  • Dothistroma needle blight (Dothistroma septosporum) causes needle loss, slow growth and sometimes death in many types of pine and some related conifers.

  • Fire blight (Erwinia amylovora) is a serious bacterial disease of apples, pears and other plants in the rose family (Rosaceae). This disease is not present in Western Australia.

  • Banana freckle was detected in Dwarf Cavendish banana fruit in the Northern Territory in May 2022. The Northern Territory Government is responding to this new detection.

  • Myrtle rust is a serious disease that infects and kills many plants belonging to the Myrtaceae family including eucalypts, bottlebrushes, paperbarks and peppermint trees.

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