Date: Friday 6 September
Time: 12:30 - 4:00 pm,
Location: Amelia Park Lodge – The Pavilion, 5850 Bussell Hwy, Abbey WA 6280
Registration: Click here to register
Join PotatoLink, WA Potatoes, DPIRD and AuSPICA for a workshop in the Busselton region.
Lunch will be provided between 12:30pm and 1 pm. Topic discussions start 1 pm and there will be an opportunity to network with drinks at the conclusion of the discussions.
Topics to be covered include:
PVY NTN and Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid (PSTVd) (Nigel Crump, AuSPICA)
Update of chlorpyrifos permit and Reglone® (Diquat) up for review with APVMA (Simon Moltoni, WA Potatoes)
Update on Predicta Pt validation study in Western Australia (Neil Lantzke and Wossen Mengesha, DPIRD)
PotatoLink website info and upcoming events – short summary of what’s on the website (Rachel Lancaster, PotatoLink)
Presenters
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Dr Nigel Crump is a potato pathologist with over 20 years’ experience working in the Australian potato industry. Nigel is the General Manager for the Australian Seed Potato Industry Certification Authority (AuSPICA), an industry-based organisation that operates the seed potato certification Scheme in South Australia, Victoria and northern New South Wales.
Nigel also oversees the day-to-day operation of the Toolangi Elite business which produces G0 potato minitubers and tissue culture plantlets.
Nigel holds adjunct roles including Deputy Chair of the UN Economic Commission specialised section on seed potatoes.
Recently, Nigel was appointed as a director of the World Potato Congress Inc. Research includes involvement in international projects in Vanuatu, Ethiopia, Indonesia and New Zealand.
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WA Potatoes is the peak industry body, representing potato growers across the state of Western Australia.
The Association represents around 100 growers and provides the following services to industry:
Advocacy and Representation
Research and Development
Marketing and Promotion
Communications, including regular Grower Updates
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Neil is the lead for the department's Vegetable team. Neil’s current areas of interest include irrigation and fertiliser use efficiency, the use of marginally saline water for irrigation, cost effective protected cropping for warmer climates and soil management.
Neil has over 30 years' experience as a vegetable researcher, private horticultural consultant, wholesale produce marketer and fruit grower.
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Wossen’s research is focussed on vegetable pathology and he is currently conducting trials aimed at providing prescriptive solutions for growers in WA. He completed his PhD at University of Tasmania in 2017 where he evaluated the effectiveness of compost extracts from variable substrates as microbial mediated disease management against bacterial wilt and leaf spot of potatoes.
He spent few years as soil and plant health diagnostic scientist in a commercial laboratory in Victoria. Wossen is currently evaluating the relationship of incidence of range of potato tuber blemish diseases with pre-planting soil and peel DNA of major pathogens across different soil types and regions in WA by utilising SARDI’s PREDICTA Pt system. If its usefulness is demonstrated under WA conditions, this test may provide additional information that growers can incorporate as part of their decision-making process for potato crop management.
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Rachel has worked in research and extension with Western Australian horticultural businesses for more than 28 years. After many years with the WA Department of Agriculture, in 2016 she left to become principal of EATS (Environmental and Agricultural Testing Services) as well as consulting privately on a wide range of research projects. As a result, Rachel has investigated plant nutrition, disease, insect and weed management and efficient crop irrigation. With skills in implementing and analysing trials as well as working with growers, Rachel is ideally qualified to work with the PotatoLink team managing activities in WA.