In this edition...
Citrus canker surveillance teams hit the ground
DPIRD will have surveillance teams on the ground in the Kimberley and Pilbara over the next few weeks as part of its ongoing response to confirm that citrus canker is absent in northern WA.
Vineyard pest and disease management workshops
WA wine grape growers have the oppotunity to hear from renowned American grape vine pathologist Prof Wayne Wilcox & other notable speakers at pest & disease workshops in Swan Valley, Margaret River and Mt Barker during October.
Opportunities and challenges for the WA Hemp industry
A recent survey of the hemp industry identified the opportunities and challenges to establishing and expanding industrial hemp production in Western Australia.
Citrus canker surveillance teams hit the ground
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development will have surveillance teams on the ground in the Kimberley and Pilbara over the next few weeks as part of its ongoing response to confirm that citrus canker is absent in northern WA.
The teams will be visiting the towns of Kununurra, Wyndham, Broome, Derby, Halls Creek, Karratha, Roebourne, Port Hedland, South Hedland, Fitzroy Crossing, Exmouth and Point Samson.
The surveillance work follows the successful removal of all citrus plants around the three properties confirmed to have citrus canker in Wyndham and Kununurra in August 2018.
Previously, the department’s focus was on tracing citrus plants known to have come into WA from the Northern Territory since January 2017.
It is now asking anyone in the north who has a citrus plant, regardless of its age or condition, to contact the department so it can be recorded and inspected if necessary.
The more citrus plants that are located and inspected, the more evidence the department will have that citrus canker is absent in northern WA.
Inspectors will not remove any plants from properties, but they make take samples for further testing.
The surveillance teams will be focussing their efforts on caravan parks, new housing development areas, community gardens, nurseries, garden centres and landscape businesses, but reports supporting the absence of citrus canker from all areas are valuable, and the department encourages everyone to make reports using the free MyPestGuideTM Reporter app.
Residents can also report plants to the department’s Pest and Disease Information Service on (08) 9368 3080 or email PaDIS . More information on citrus canker and response measures is available at the department website.
There have been no additional detections of citrus canker in WA, since the initial three cases in May 2018.
Vineyard pest and disease management workshops
Pest and disease management, sustainable viticulture and chemical resistance are high priorities for the Western Australian wine industry.
International, national and local experts will present the latest research and sustainable practices for managing vineyard pests and diseases at a number of South West workshops.
Headlining the workshop is internationally renowned grape pathologist and editor of the seminal text ‘Compendium of grape diseases, disorders and pests’, Professor Wayne Wilcox.
Professor Wilcox, Cornell University (USA) grape pathology program leader, will present on the biology and sustainable management of powdery mildew, botrytis bunch rot, downy mildew and sour rot.
Mildura-based grapevine pathologist Dr Bob Emmett will provide expert insight into integrated pest management practices and delve into the management of botryosphaeria trunk rot, mealybug and light brown apple moth.
DPIRD pathologist Andrew Taylor will give a WA perspective on downy mildew and fungicide resistance and entomologist Stewart Learmonth will discuss garden weevil management practices at the Margaret River and Mount Barker workshops.
Date: Tuesday 16 October
Time: 9am – 1pm
Venue: Swan Athletic Sporting Club (McDonald St, Herne Hill)
Date: Wednesday 17 October
Time: 9am – 1pm
Venue: Margaret River Education Campus (272 Bussell Highway)
Date: Friday 19 October
Time: 9am – 1pm
Venue: Room MPR4, Community Resource Centre (1 Lowood Road, Mt Barker)
Registration is free and lunch will be provided after the workshop. To ensure you don’t miss out RSVP to Jodie Whitfield.
Opportunities and challenges for the WA Hemp industry
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) recently surveyed 64 growers, processors, manufacturers and businesses involved in the hemp industry to identify the opportunities and challenges to establishing and expanding industrial hemp production in Western Australia.
Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) is a versatile crop with fibre and hurd able to be extracted from the stem, and seeds can be hulled and eaten, or pressed for omega rich oil and protein rich powder.
Opportunities for hemp products are vast, not limited to textiles, rope, animal bedding, building materials, oil and food.
Department senior policy officer Andrew Reeves said the survey, supported by the Agribusiness Innovation Fund, had helped build a stronger picture of the existing industry and future growth potential.
He said opportunities for growth focussed on hemp as a high-protein grain for food and beverage production, including a nut-free milk alternative, and as a fibre for textiles and building products.
Based on the survey, the current make-up of the industry was strongly represented by those involved in seed supply markets (30%) or in the start-up or pre-market phase (26%).
In the future, the majority of respondents believed that WA could be most competitive in building and textiles (36%) and hemp food markets (26%).
Confidence in the expansion of the industry is strong, with 79 per cent of those surveyed indicating they intend to expand their production in the next three years, with the majority aiming to expand to a planted area of more than 100 hectares. The primary area of growth indicated is based in the South West.
In other findings, the absence of processing facilities for hemp food and fibre in Western Australia and unknown markets were considered to be both significant opportunities and barriers to industry development.
Andrew Reeves, along with the Kimberley Development Commission’s (KDC) Andrew Beer, recently viewed a new housing alternative, which has become available in the South West, for people that are looking to build a home that is able to reduce their carbon footprint.
Hemp Homes Australia owner Gary Rogers is using industrial hemp mixed with lime to create ‘hempcrete’ and building material that uses the fibre known as the ‘hurd’ or ‘shives’ from the woody inner core of the hemp plant, to produce a standard three bedroom, one bathroom house that is able to lock up 20 tons of carbon.
Two homes have recently been completed at the Witchcliffe ecovillage that aims to create a sustainable residential subdivision that demonstrates good planning, strong environmental principles, sensible financial management and technological innovation.
Compared to existing housing options that use high energy inputs and have significant ongoing heating and cooling requirements, a house with walls made from industrial hemp has significant advantages on a standard double brick and tile home in that the walls that are 200mm thick are R rated to 2.8 while walls that are 300mm are rated at 4.25.
The hempcrete can be inserted into roof space voids instead of insulation batts for a high R rated vermin proof roof insulation. When combined with passive solar design and double glazing on the windows, the house stays at around 17-20 degrees all year round. These homes feel comfortable and have unique acoustics.
Hempcrete is termite and rodent proof and can withstand fire temperatures of 1500 degrees.
As a rule of thumb, it takes about one hectare of hemp plants to provide the shives to build a three bedroom, one bathroom house.
Increasing the width of the walls from 200mm to 400mm will lock away more carbon over the three years the walls take to ‘petrify’ but also allows a hemp home to be a viable option in places like the Pilbara and Kimberley where the additional thickness of the walls will keep out unwanted heat or cold to maintain a pleasant temperature all year round.
A further advantage of a hemp home is that the house breathes. A hemp house draws moisture into the walls and releasing it into the environment.
There are also no paints on the walls or oil treatments applied to the joinery so the solvents and chemical additives that release Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) found in many buildings are greatly reduced.
For more information contact Andrew Reeves, Senior Policy Officer, Bunbury, 9780 6224.