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Research program: Integrated Pest Management
Program leader:  Main thrust: On an average, insects, diseases and weeds
destroy up to 1/3 of all crop production. In the
developed world 25% of all production is lost to pests. This
does not include costs for control. Therefore,
integrated pest management programs are essential
components of any sustainable crop production system. Aims:
The aims of the integrated pest management
program are:
• serve as a focus of weed, disease and
insect research at CSU;
• provide infrastructure and support for research
in IPM;
• facilitate linkages between researchers at CSU
and those in other organizations such as NSW Agriculture, CSIRO and other universities;
• provide opportunities for post graduate
research and training. Main Research Areas: The main research foci are:
1. control of canola diseases, especially blackleg;
2. management and genetic basis of
herbicide resistance;
3. allelopathy;
4. biocontrol of weeds;
5. biology and ecology of weeds. Facilities: There is a large number of facilities within the
Farrer Centre and the School of Agriculture for the
support of research in the pest management program.
These include:
• Glasshouse and growth room facilities. The
Farrer Centre has an equipped PC2 quarantine
glasshouse and controlled growth facilities ranging
from smaller germination cabinets and
microclimate facilities to growth rooms.
• Inoculation equipment that delivers
accurate dosages of pathogens to plants and facilities
for controlled dew formation.
• A pot spraying facility allowing for the
accurate application of chemicals to potted plants.
• A fully equipped PC2 plant pathology
laboratory with laminar flows, microscopes (inverted,
DIC equipped, fluorescent and bright field),
liquid nitrogen storage and bench top fermentation equipment.
• A laboratory equipped for molecular
research including equipment for RAPDs and AFLP
• An agronomy laboratory with extensive
incubators for germination and growth experiments.
• Analysis of densitometry, rapid DNA extraction
and freeze drying. Staff Involved CSU
Gavin Ash, Peter Slater
Jim Pratley, Nigel Urwin
Morley Murilatharan, Rex Stanton
John Kent, Rosy Raman
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