Fresh from showcasing the cutting-edge mobile plant pest surveillance units – also know as ‘sentinels’ – at the Lockyer Valley Growers Expo and Hort Connections, the iMapPESTS team has deployed Sentinel 6 (pictured above) to Campsey Ash Farms in Lake Clarendon in a collaboration with Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Plant Protectionist John Duff.

The unit will be monitoring the presence of high priority pests for the Lockyer Valley region over the transition from winter to spring, where we expect to see increasing pest and disease pressure as daily average temperatures increase into the warmer months.

Results from the monitoring activities will be shared through a range of communication channels, including the iMapPESTS website.

The trial will also focus on monitoring for the early detection of serpentine leafminer (Lyriomyza huidobrensis).

This project is supported by Hort Innovation through funding from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment as part of its Rural R&D for Profit Program and funding from 16 partner organisations.