Quantium scan tracking FY25/26: Veg & onion
12 January 2026Biosecurity preparedness and strategy for the potato industry
12 January 2026This project has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the research and development levies listed below and contributions from the Australian Government. Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.
Assess the challenge and the opportunity:
Set up a baseline of the issue by surveying and identifying the geographic spread of Group 1 herbicide resistance in ryegrass (including collating existing data on herbicide resistance from previous surveys) and the impact on yield and harvestability. Determine resistance levels in different ryegrass populations across farming regions and benchmark current management practices.
Manage whole of rotation demonstration sites and farmer directed peer learning:
Work with industry to select and manage demonstration sites in key onion and carrot growing regions. Support growers and researchers to experiment with management methods and learn together. Develop through demonstration and peer learning superior management strategies throughout successive rotation crops.
Evaluate alternative herbicides:
Review existing herbicide options registered for onions and carrots and identify gaps in herbicide availability. Conduct trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of alternative herbicide options for ryegrass control, including crop and soil carryover residues. Evaluate the causes of ryegrass escape in rotational crops, including herbicide application failures and resistance. Develop guidelines on herbicide rotation, integrated management practices, and alternative control strategies that together produce best management of herbicide resistant ryegrass. Provide data to support registration or permits for new suitable herbicides for ryegrass control.
Maintain linkages with other projects:
Create and sustain linkages with other related projects. Including relevant current and previous GRDC research. Secure opportunities to demonstrate a range of methods from other projects where appropriate such as mechanical and biological control options.
Demonstrate the success of the co-developed management strategies:
Work with demonstration site cooperators and their peer networks to evaluate the performance of management strategies and use this to demonstrate superiority of management strategies to the wider industry. Report on changes in herbicide resistance management that can be attributed to the project and the benefits (yield, quality, other) that industry has achieved because of these changes.
