Newsletters

PestFacts WA

Final PestFax newsletter for 2018!

This is the 28th and final weekly issue of the PestFax newsletter for the 2018 growing season. Extra editions may be circulated if extraordinary circumstances occur after this time.

All of this season’s PestFax newsletters can be found at the department’s PestFax newsletter archive.

The PestFax team says a big thank you to all those people who took the time to send pest and disease reports in this year. All reports are greatly appreciated and are vital for PestFax to keep readers informed and up to date with the pest and disease situation in their area.

2018 PestFax statistics

This year the PestFax team received 2,007 reports in total (current to 29 October 2018). This is more than the 844 total reports received to this date in 2017.

The new collaboration between Agworld and the PestFax service this season resulted in 1200 reports (insects, disease and weeds) from Elders WA agronomists using the Agworld platform. For more information see the 2018 PestFax Issue 10 article Agworld platform users are collaborating with PestFax this season.

What were the top five reported pests?

The PestFax team received 420 invertebrate pest reports in total. The spring native budworm moth trapping program was the most reported with 263 reports received. The native budworm (124) was the insect most reported by the public, followed by cabbage aphids (39). The top five insects reported are listed in Table 1, below.

Table 1 The top five pests and number of reports to the PestFax service during 2018
Insect Number of reports
Native budworm 124
Cabbage aphid 39
Green peach aphid 24
Turnip aphid 21
Diamondback moth 20

What were the top five reported diseases for 2018?

There were 165 disease reports received in total by the PestFax team via a variety of means. Spot-type net blotch was the most reported disease (33 reports), followed by sclerotinia stem rot (30). Table 2, below, displays the other diseases that were most commonly reported.

Table 2 The top five diseases and number of reports to the PestFax service during 2018
Disease Number of reports
Spot-type net blotch 33
Sclerotinia stem rot 30
Powdery mildew 12
Blackleg 12
Barley leaf rust 9

2018 PestFax map statistics

The PestFax map provides a visual display of the pests and diseases reported by the industry. Viewers can choose a host, a disorder and a time period. They can also select a 'Same time as last year' map view to highlight seasonal commonality or differences.

In 2018, an impressive 6475 maps were generated as of 29 October. This number includes every map generated between each dropdown box selection.

Maps that displayed ‘All’ disorders were generated the most with 4988 generated.

Green peach aphid was the disorder map most specifically generated (126), followed by sclerotinia stem rot maps (125). To see what the other top disorder maps viewed were refer to Table 3, below.

Table 3 The most popular PestFax disorder maps (disease, insects and other) viewed in 2018
Disorder Number of maps generated
Green peach aphid 126
Sclerotinia stem rot 125
Leaf rust 118
Stripe rust 109
Powdery mildew 72

For more information on the PestFax service please contact Cindy Webster, PestFax newsletter editor, Narrogin on +61 (0)8 9881 0201.

For information on the PestFax Map or PestFax Reporter app please contact Art Diggle, Senior Research Officer, South Perth on +61 (0)8 9368 3563.

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