Biosecurity Alerts Industry Resources Crop Protection

AUSVEG undertakes a number of extension projects in the biosecurity and crop protection space. These projects aim to improve the management of pests and diseases across the vegetable industry and increase the quality and quantity of resources available to Australian vegetable growers.

Our core focuses include biosecurity, sustainable production, and integrated pest management solutions.

AUSVEG also publishes ‘The Front Line’, a biosecurity bulletin to keep industry up to date with the latest biosecurity news, including upcoming workshops and events, research and development, and pest and disease alerts.

Stay updated on the latest biosecurity news, updates, pest alerts and events for free with AUVSEG’s Frontline biosecurity e-bulletin and AUSVEG’s dedicated biosecurity Twitter account @biosecurityveg.

Sign up to the Frontline biosecurity e-bulletin below:


Biosecurity

Biosecurity provides a mechanism for the vegetable industry, government, and other relevant stakeholders to actively determine pests of high priority, analyse the risks they pose and implement procedures to reduce the chance of pests becoming established.

AUSVEG is involved in a number of extension projects with a core biosecurity focus. These include:

Current projects:

Completed projects:

Sustainable growing

Sustainable vegetable production is integral to the success and future growth potential of the vegetable industry. AUSVEG strives to provide resources and advice on sustainable growing practices to industry. Currently, AUSVEG has one project focused on sustainable practices:

Pest management solutions

Pest management involves agrichemical, cultural and biological control for pests and diseases. Read more about crop information here.

Completed projects include:

AUSVEG Engagement & Extension team

Zarmeen Hassan | National Manager – Engagement & Extension

Zarmeen brings a wealth of experience across industry and the private sector to her work leading AUSVEG’s science and extension projects, including from previous roles with global organisations like Monsanto, FrieslandCampina, Reckitt Benckiser and Coca-Cola.

Zarmeen has extensive leadership experience, holding multiple roles managing teams and projects across a wide range of disciplines, including agriculture, marketing, communications, business and policy development.

Recently, she has spent time in Pakistan to develop transformative solutions for the agricultural sector, working with multiple stakeholders from industry, government, finance, growers, academia and donor agencies to forge public private partnerships for the development of the agriculture sector.

Shakira Johnson | Adoption and Engagement Coordinator

Shakira joined AUSVEG in July 2018, and is currently coordinating adoption and engagement for iMapPESTS, a rural research and development project aimed at improving farm productivity with better plant pest management. She holds a Bachelor of Science with first class honours in molecular plant pathology and is currently finishing her Ph.D. on pear scab disease, supported by La Trobe University and the Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre.

Shakira currently sits on the executive committee of the Victorian branch of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society, where she contributes to the organisation of networking events and the professional development of plant pathology students and early career researchers.

Her key skills include science communication, adult education, molecular biology, and plant-pathogen interactions.

Shakira’s interests include food, coffee, performance art and exploring weird and wonderful locations.

Cherry Emerick | Project Officer

Engagement and Extension team, Cherry Emerick. Project Officer for the AUSVEG extension component of the Hort Innovation-funded project Management strategy for serpentine leafminer, (Liriomyza huidobrensis) (MT20005).

This project has recently been expanded to include American serpentine leafminer (Liriomyza trifolii) and contains a much larger extension component which will be primarily focused on engagement with the vegetable, potatoes, and melons industries in the north of Australia.

More recently she has been the Senior Project Officer at the North Queensland Dry Tropics Natural Resource Management (NRM) on the Landholders Driving Change project.

She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role, including an understanding of northern agriculture.

Cherry has previously held the position of Industry Development Officer in North and Far North Queensland and been a part of national farming company with the last position held as an Operations Manager.

Engagement with local, state, and federal government has allowed her to build strong relationships over the years.

Danielle Park | VegNET Regional Development Officer

Danielle Park brings a wealth of experience from a wide range of agricultural industries to the role of VegNET Regional Development Officer, Victoria North, West and South-east.

Danielle has a background in agricultural science and has held several extension roles within private, not-for-profit and government organisations across 20 years. She has experience in supporting decision making in the areas of changing water infrastructure and seasonal climate information in dryland production systems.

Prior to commencing the VegNET role, Danielle had held the role of EnviroVeg Coordinator for two years with AUSVEG.

Ian Thomas | Projects Officer

Ian works on projects in the both the AUSVEG Engagement & Extension, and Marketing teams.

His responsibilities include communications and extension activities for the iMapPESTS and Smart Farms projects, the organisation of the Annual Vegetable Industry Seminar – a Hort Innovation Vegetable Levy Funded R&D Seminar held each year to showcase emerging products and innovations in horticulture – as well as assisting with the management of industry partnerships for Hort Connections.

Prior to coming on board at AUSVEG, Ian worked in vineyard management and consulting in Australia, Canada and France and also has extensive experience in the manufacturing sector.