The Almond Board of Australia is seeking interest from all almond growers who are willing to participate in an industry-wide monitoring network designed to monitor the almond carpophilus beetle (Carpophilus truncatus) in almonds.
Agriculture Victoria (AV) has developed an attract and kill (A&K) trap specifically targeting the almond carpophilus beetle in almonds. However, the A&K trap in its current form is not commercially viable for control treatments.
While alternative A&K technologies are being pursued by AV for more cost-effective dispersal the A&K trap can be used for monitoring and collecting grower insights on how to improve the trap. Data is needed on beetle catch throughout the season, in different orchards, and across the country so that beetle behaviour can be better understood to improve controls.
Relating beetle catch data to crop damage and orchard characteristics will also help AV determine if a predictive tool can be developed to forecast control measures in the future.
What’s involved?
There is no financial cost in taking part however there is a time commitment required.
In accepting A&K traps, it is expected that you have the resources required to maintain the traps throughout the season and report the data each fortnight to the Almond Board of Australia.
A small number of traps will be made available to each farm based on size, level of damage, capacity to refresh traps and collect data, as well as the level of interest across the industry.
While the data will be required to be reported at a minimum of every two weeks there will be the ability to report weekly for those who are able and willing to do this. For those who are really keen live samples can be collected for further identification and analysis.
All data will remain confidential and will only be shared to assist the reasearch project or in aggregated form.
If at any point you can no longer commit to the maintenance and reporting, you can opt out of the monitoring program by letting the Almond Board of Australia know.
Instructions on how to maintain traps and collect data will be available on the ABA website.
When will traps be delivered?
AV are currently pursuing research permits/approvals and when these are in place distribution will commence. The ABA will notify you of the number of traps available and organise a suitable delivery time and place with you.
Will support be available?
The idea behind creating a monitoring network is that everyone learns together.
The catch data will be de-identified and aggregated. A dashboard will be accessible by those who submit their data to benchmark against others in the monitoring network.
An online webinar catch up will be scheduled during the season to look at the ‘catch’ data and understand beetle behaviour. This will also be a good opportunity for questions and answers.
If you are having difficulties or need more information please feel free to reach out to one of the following members of the ABA or AV team.
- Josh Fielke – 0408 031 991
- Peter Jealous – 0488 101 533
- Deidre Jaensch – 0429 007 200
- Samantha Edley – 0457 606 487
- David Madge – 0427 233 692
Expressions of interest
If you are an almond grower and are keen to be involved register now: