Canola aphid activity update
- Wandering
- Narrogin
- Lake Grace
- Mount Madden
Farmer John Parsons has found cabbage aphids on the edge of his Bonito canola crop near Wandering. The crop is at the pod ripening stage.
An Agworld user has reported finding cabbage and turnip aphids in canola near Narrogin.
Garren Knell (ConsultAg) has been finding low levels of turnip and cabbage aphids on canola crop edges from Narrogin to Lake Grace.
Garren also reports that an early flowering canola crop at Mount Madden has high numbers of green peach aphids (GPA) on the leaves and the situation is likely to get worse if the plants encounter moisture stress over the coming weeks or even coming days. It is especially concerning given the poor control of green peach aphids using sulfoxaflor sprays in the Esperance region recently.
It has been noted that sulfoxaflor is likely to be less effective against GPA when plants are stressed because the plant is less able to transport the product.
Growers and advisors are encouraged to download and follow GRDC’s GPA resistance management strategy to minimise the further development of insecticide resistance.
If more than 20% of plants are infested with colonies of aphids, control measures should be considered to avoid yield losses. The risk of economic yield losses to aphids is increased if canola crops are already under some degree of moisture stress or experience poor finishing rains.
For a list of insecticides registered for use on aphids see the department’s 2018 Winter/Spring Insecticide Guide.
For more information on identifying and managing canola aphids refer to the department’s;
- Aphid management in canola crops page
- Diagnosing canola aphids page
- 2017 Protecting WA Crops Issue 3 newsletter Aphids – WA’s insect problem children
- Aphids in your crops YouTube video.
For more aphid information contact Dustin Severtson, Development Officer, Northam on +61 (0)8 9690 2160 or Alan Lord, Technical Officer, South Perth on +61 (0)8 9368 3758 or Svetlana Micic, Research Officer, Albany on +61 (0)8 9892 8591.