The iMapPESTS team’s second mobile surveillance unit, Sentinel 2, has been deployed to a crop of Brussels sprouts in Langhorne Creek, South Australia — a wine region south of Adelaide which also produces a variety of vegetable crops including potatoes, carrots, lucerne and chickpeas.
Sentinel 2 will be trapping high priority, airborne pests and diseases, such green peach aphid, western flower thrips and the causal agent of white rot, Sclerotinia.
The unit will be stationed in the area until the end of August, before moving up into the Adelaide Hills for early spring. The iMapPESTS team will be reporting on what they find through their website.
The Sentinel, a state-of-the-art mobile surveillance unit, is a key output from the multimillion-dollar, cross industry iMapPESTS investment led by Hort Innovation, through funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture as part of its Rural R&D for Profit program, with support from 17 partner organisations.
Growers and agronomists who wish to be involved in the iMapPESTS program can register their interest either through the website or via iMapPESTS Engagement & Adoption coordinator, Shakira Johnson at shakira.johnson@ausveg.com.au or visit the iMapPESTS website.