Nuffield Scholarships
2 September 2023
AUSVEG Farm Biosecurity Project
22 September 2023
Investing in biosecurity tools and systems to provide security against potential pest incursions
VegWatch, the Vegetable industry biosecurity and business continuity strategy (VG22004), is a national program that brings together vegetable growing businesses and biosecurity expertise from state and territory biosecurity agencies, research providers and the private sector designed to develop tools, systems and capacity to support earlier detection, accurate and rapid identification and swift and effective decision making and response activities to eradicate or manage new pests of vegetables when they arrive, with a key goal of enabling risk-based movement of produce and the swift reinstatement of market access for vegetable farming businesses.
What will the vegetable biosecurity program deliver?
The program is based on three themes:
- Surveillance and diagnostics
- Data and informed decision making
- Business continuity and trade
Over five years, the program will:
- Update the list of pests and diseases that pose a risk to the Australian vegetable industry
- Use risk mapping to support the development of national protocols for detection or key priority pests and diseases (National Surveillance Protocols)
- Develop protocols for the identification (National Diagnostic Protocols) of key priority pests and diseases
- Prepare contingency plans for key priority pests and diseases to support control and management options
- Evaluate digital technology to reduce the risk of pests from entering and establishing on farm and support risk-based return to trade in the event of a new pest arriving
- Trial the use of industry pest and disease monitoring data and national biosecurity surveillance data to provide evidence of absence of pests to support farm business continuity and market access
- Support farm biosecurity implementation with a new Farm Biosecurity Guide, high health practices and digital technologies to support visitor management
How will the program support return to trade for farm businesses?
We are evaluating the use of visitor movement data to help streamline on-farm biosecurity practices and inform response activities when a new pest is reported.
The digital check-in process simplifies the visitor management process and creates instantaneous records of each visitor. The system also allows important farm biosecurity and operational requirements to be shared with visitors.
The true power of digital check in becomes apparent during biosecurity responses. In the event of a pest or disease outbreak, the ability to quickly and accurately trace visitor movements can mean the difference between containing a pest and it spreading further.
Farm check-in technology can be as simple as having a QR code on the farmgate biosecurity sign or using the app to check in at the office.
One of the activities that takes place when a new pest is reported determining where the pest may have come from and how far it may have spread. The time it takes for this to happen can depend on the availability of information about what has come on and off the affected property, and the ease of accessing that information.
The speed of this process is crucial. Traditional manual tracing might take days or weeks to compile information, during which time a pest or disease could spread exponentially. Digital systems can generate comprehensive reports within minutes, enabling swift and targeted response strategies. Through VegWatch, farm businesses can connect to Onside for free. The deidentified data will be shared with AUSVEG to demonstrate how it can support response efforts in the event of a new pest arriving.
You can get involved here: www.getonside.com/au/ausveg
Want to know more?
Contact AUSVEG on (03) 9882 0277 or email at science@ausveg.com.au
Further information
- Investing in biosecurity preparedness to protect against potential pest incursions
- Digital defence to streamline farm biosecurity
- Vegetable industry biosecurity and business continuity strategy (VG22004)
- Watch the video interview with Mike Fielden of Boratto Farms about Onside
- Hear our Vegalogue podcast story
Project partners
VegWatch is a partnership between AUSVEG, Plant Health Australia, Department of Environment and Climate Change, Victoria, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia, Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis at the University of Melbourne, RM Consulting Group.
This 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.