Pests, weeds & diseases

Pests, weeds and diseases pose a serious risk for primary producers as they can impact on market access and agricultural production.

To reduce the impact of pests, weeds and diseases, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development:

  • works with landholders, grower groups, community groups and biosecurity groups.
  • provides diagnostic services and information on prevention, management and treatment.
  • provides biosecurity and quarantine measures to prevent introduction, and to eradicate or manage current pests.

For advice on pests, weeds and diseases search our website, the Western Australian Organism List or contact our Pest and Disease Information Service (PaDIS).

For diagnostic services, please contact our Diagnostic Laboratory Services.

Articles

  • Net-form net blotch is a fungal disease that can reduce yield and grain quality of barley crops. This page describes the symptoms briefly, with greater focus on how this disease is managed.

  • Herbicide performance can vary greatly depending on a number of factors. These can include compatibility of herbicides, water quality, sprayer decontamination and controlling stressed weeds.

  • The term 'residual' applies to a number of herbicides that have a long lasting activity in the soil. These herbicides are often applied directly to the soil prior to planting crops, pre-emergent.

  • Seed dressing and in-furrow fungicides contain active ingredients for the control or suppression of seed-borne diseases, some fungal foliar diseases and some fungal root rots in cereal crops.

  • Information is provided here to assist management of diseases and viruses that occur in broadacre crops grown in Western Australia - cereals (wheat, barley, oats and triticale), pulses (field pea,

  • Windmill grass (Chloris truncata) is a native species and is the tenth most common summer weed species in the Western Australian wheatbelt.

  • Annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) is one of the most serious and costly weeds of annual winter cropping systems in southern Australia.

  • When selecting a wheat variety to implement in a farming system, it is important to be aware of the variety's disease package to plan management options. The disease resistance ratings for wheat va

  • Leaf spot diseases affecting wheat in Western Australia are septoria nodorum blotch, yellow spot and septoria tritici blotch.

  • In Western Australia, competition from 7-90 capeweed plants per square metre in a wheat crop can reduce crop yield by 28-44% and net return by 25-76%.

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