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VegNET New South Wales Regional Update

Umberto and Sophia from Applied Horticultural Research doing a talk on the soil activities taken place on the farm

A highly destructive pest that affects sweet corn and many other crops, fall armyworm, continues to be a focus for Sydney growers. In this article, VegNET – New South Wales Regional Development Officer Sylvia Jelinek provides an update on the Sydney region’s response to the challenges posed by fall armyworm and how it was tackled at the Local Land Services Demonstration Farm.

The Vegetable Innovation Field Day was held in December at the Local Land Services Demonstration Farm, featuring sweet corn and zucchini varieties, soil wealth demonstration of strip till and cover crops, fall armyworm control in sweet corn, irrigation methods, pollination and biodegradable mulches.

Sweet corn pest control

At Greater Sydney Local Land Services’ Demonstration Farm, new sweet corn varieties were sown in mid-September, spaced at 28cm in two rows per bed. As fall armyworm (FAW) is a relatively new pest, its presence this season was being watched with keen interest.

In last couple years, FAW has attacked sweet corn from mid-summer onwards. So, we were surprised to see FAW activity shortly after the sweet corn germinated. It is most likely FAW adults emerged from pupae in the soil from the previous summer. This was quickly treated with Proclaim (Emamectin) and Fawligen (Spodoptera Frugiperda Multiple Nucleopolyhedrovirus). There were no major FAW problems after the initial emergence.

Heliothis became the primary pest in the duration of this sweet corn crop. Heliothis eggs were seen in early November and treated with Vivus Gold (2 x 109 Polyhedral Inclusion of Bodies of the Nucleopolyhedrovirus of Helicoverpa armigera) and Coragen (Chlorantraniliprole), a good ‘belt and braces’ approach.

Seminis talking about their corn varieties.

As fall armyworm (FAW) is a relatively new pest, its presence this season was being watched with keen interest.

The crop was monitored weekly by Andy Ryland from Integrated Pest Management Consulting, who provided reports and pest control recommendations. Andy said we did well and managed Heliothis very effectively and kept pest numbers down to a bare minimum using Vivus Gold through the irrigation. Having pest control at pre-tasselling and tasselling stages of sweet corn was key. Vivus Gold also assisted in treating the zucchini trial plantings for Heliothis too.

Our goal was to maintain beneficial insects as much as possible. There were lots of beneficials present, predominantly white collared lady beetle (Hippodamia variegata), brown lacewings (Micromus sp.) and spotted ladybird (Harmonia conformis). These insects are showing positive results in lab trials by Macquarie University as biological controls of fall armyworm.

NSW Vegetable innovation day

The first in a series of NSW Vegetable Innovation Field Days was held on Friday 13 December 2024 at NSW Local Land Services’ Demonstration Farm at Richmond Lowlands, north-west of Sydney in the Hawkesbury Valley. It was a very sunny, hot summer day and fantastic to bring over 80 growers and industry together to share insights and innovations.

Highlights included learning more about:

With 19 sweet corn and 24 zucchini varieties on display, updates on the latest research on integrated pest and disease management, particularly with regards to fall armyworm and mosaic viruses in zucchini.
How to manage crop pollination in cucurbit crops now that Varroa mite is becoming established in NSW.
New innovations in agtech and irrigation management.
Soil Wealth ICP demonstration of strip till and cover crops with a range of extension resources developed and extended to growers.
Demonstrating new innovations such as alternative materials to plastic in horticulture, such as biodegradable mulches, to encourage improved sustainable of vegetable production.