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Macadamia industry shaken up by simple solution to treating husk spot disease
Elizabeth Gracie
A chemical-free solution to husk spot disease is shaking up the macadamia industry, clawing back the $20m in yearly losses associated with the pathogen by applying a mechanical shaker to crops.
Husk spot is a natural pathogen that infects the fibrous husk around the macadamia shell and costs Australia’s macadamia industry approximately $20m per year. With macadamias representing less than 1% of the total global tree nut trade, new chemical solutions are rare with small amounts of resources dedicated to R&D in the space by chemical manufacturers.
University of Queensland (UQ) Scientist, Associate Professor Femi Akinsanmi found through his research at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation that the simple gesture of physically shaking macadamia trees with a mechanical tree shaker could remove infected macadamia husks and protect healthy husks from being infected.
A mechanical tree shaker is a device that uses a hydraulic cylinder to squeeze a tree and is commonly used to harvest fruit such as pecans, almonds and walnuts.
Now, some 90% of farmers in the Bundaberg region are using mechanical shakers, with uptake in NSW slower due to the difficulty of using the shakers in non-GPS planted orchards.
Australia is the only country in the world that is known to have the pseudocercopora macadamiae pathogen, providing a unique opportunity for Australian scientists to study the biology and ecology of husk spot disease.
The discovery could significantly reduce macadamia farmers reliance on chemical fungicides and sprays to remove the source of husk spot infection from their crops.
When speaking with the ABC, Professor Akinsanmi said that the use of mechanical tree shakers proved so successful in trials that it eliminated the need to use chemical fungicide sprays altogether.
“It’s what we call integrated management. When we started it, it used to be about five or six [fungicide] applications a year - now it is down to one or none”.
“In Bundaberg. Many of our larger growers are already using it every year, so they don’t have to worry about the disease ever again” said Akinsanmi.
The usage of mechanical tree shakers will also shorten the harvest time for farmers as macadamia nuts are harvested from orchard floors, making for a more efficient harvest season.
Jolyon Burnett, CEO of the Australian Macadamia Society said that Professor Akinsanmi’s research into treatment methods for husk spot disease had profoundly impacted Australia’s macadamia industry.
“What Femi has done has made us all better farm managers across the board, not just in relation to our broader industry-funded project on integrated pest and disease management,” said Burnett.
“It’s a critical shift that has saved money and improved sustainability and responsible practices in the communities we operate in”.
However, Femi suggests that each farmer should assess the need for chemical fungicides depending on their individual circumstances and if they were unable to access a mechanical tree shaker to remove old infected husks from trees.
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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