AgriBusiness News September 2017

14 WAIKATO AGRIBUSINESS NEWS September 2017
Pest’s survival in dry storage prompts alarm
Tiny creatures in soil that attack plants
have shown the ability to survive for at
least three years stored in dry conditions,
according to a recent AgResearch study
AgResearch via the Better
Border Biosecurity collaboration,
soil collected from a
native forest and an organic
orchard was stored separately
in cupboards at room temperature
for a period of 36 months.
Samples were then taken
at regular intervals to see if
any nematodes could be recovered
from the soil and, if they
could, whether they were able
to infect plant hosts.
grew white clover and ryegrass
plants in pots containing a soil
sample,” explain the authors.
“One of the PPN we looked
at was the root lesion nematode.
What we found was that
lesion nematodes were able to
successfully invade the roots of
ryegrass even after 36 months,”
says AgResearch nematologist
Lee Aalders.
“They were also able to produce
offspring at 13 months.
The study gives new crops and pasture.
insights into the biosecurity
threats posed worm-like organisms. They
Nematodes are very small
by passenger travel and trade
between countries.
The findings also add to
can be extremely hardy and can
have both beneficial and detrimental
impacts. The harmful “In the study we used dif-
Interestingly, no PPN were
methods to detect nem-
PROOF TIME recovered 12/09/2017 from 3:03:33 soil stored p.m.
discussions about how best CUSTOMER: ones - the EBBETT plant WAIKATO parasitic LTD nematodes
(PPN) - include species atodes — including a water beyond the 13th month using
T_A Eferent
to detect these creatures,
called nematodes, before they
REP ID:
that attack
12B
plants reducing their misting technique to draw
LAST RUN:
the three-day
09/13/17
misting technique.”
cross borders and potentially
reduce yields of important
growth and survival.
In the study, funded by
them out of the soil, and SIZE: a
baiting method — where we 1/2 PG HZ
This means that given the
right conditions, PPN in soil,
which is carried on sea freight,
footwear or used machinery,
and protected from sun or
extreme heat, will survive if
they end up near a suitable host
plant. This is a result that may
not be detected using an extraction
test like misting.
For quarantine officials
around the world, this result
is an important find, as it reinforces
the risk associated with
soil that, even though it may
look sterile, unwanted nematodes
may be present and
undetected until paired with a
suitable host plant.
“In the context of biosecurity,
we think that the development
of a generic test for plant
parasitic nematodes – based
around a molecular based bioassay
— would enhance the
probability of detection of
PPNs and, therefore, prevent
unwanted incursions beyond
the border.”
Earlier this year, another
AgResearch study into
the survival rates of various
transported soil organisms
concluded that biosecurity
risks from soil organisms to
increase with declining trans-
10740044AB
port duration and increasing
protection from environmental
extremes.
Supporting the charities
that support Waikato district
Staff at Waikato District
Council are collecting
money for two rural
groups that are still supporting
some of our rural community
after storms and floods devastated
parts of the district in
March and April.
Every Friday is Casual
Friday at the council. In
exchange for the opportunity
to “dress down” for the
day, staff are encouraged to
donate a gold coin to a nominated
local cause – and this
month it’s the Rural Support
Trust and Rural Women New
Zealand.
Waikato District Council
chief executive, Gavin Ion
said many council staff were
involved in the immediate
civil defence response to the
floods earlier this year and so
they were keen to contribute
to the recovery support work
that is still going on.
“It’s easy to forget that
some farms were hit hard,
crops damaged and families
are still trying to recover,” he
said. “We hope our initiative
goes some way to help the
rural support network that we
partner with to provide support
after these sorts of events.”
Wanda Leadbeater of the
Rural Support Trust said,
“We’re grateful for the support
of the Waikato District
Council staff. The extreme
weather has had a huge and
ongoing detrimental effect on
farmers, individuals and communities.
Recovery will take
some time and we’ll continue
to work with people as long as
we’re needed. Our service is
free and confidential.”
If members of the public
want to join Waikato District
Council staff in donating
to support the work of
these two groups they can
go to the Waikato-Hauraki-
Coromandel page on the Rural
Support Trust website (see the
reference below), or they can
buy a pair of ‘Aftersocks’
from the Rural Women New
Zealand website.
Rural Women New Zealand
national president, Fiona
Gower said, “Rural Women
New Zealand is very appreciative
for this opportunity to
promote the Adverse Events
Relief Fund. The funds raised
supports rural communities
affected by natural disasters,
in this case the damage caused
by the extreme weather in the
Waikato. Buy, wear and share
Aftersocks by tagging @
aftersocksnz on Facebook to
show your support.”
Waikato District Council
staff lead all Civil Defence
efforts for the Waikato district
and partner with emergency
services, support agencies
and other local councils
to answer immediate needs
and undertake recovery work
afterwards.
There were three storm
events in March and April
this year. During the worst
of them the council answered
80 urgent requests in 24
hours to deal with slips
and flooding and 56 roads
in the district were affected.
About 60 urban properties
suffered from flooding or
slips, and 22 North Waikato
farmers requested additional
assistance for recovery.
Wairamarama was one of the
worst-hit areas after being
deluged with 110mm of rain
in a 12-hour period. Twenty
claims were subsequently
lodged with the Earthquake
Commission (EQC).
With 50 percent funding
support from the NZ Transport
Agency, the Waikato District
Alliance roading team
undertook a $1 million programme
of short term road
repairs in Mercer, Pokeno and
Pukekawa. A longer term
road restoration programme is
expected to cost $2.4 million.
Other emergency efforts
in the past year included
trucking more than 3 million
litres of drinking water to the
Raglan community for several
days after tremors from
November’s Kaikoura earthquake
disturbed the clarity of
the spring water feeding the
town’s water reservoirs.
Ongoing Civil Defence
and Emergency Management
(CDEM) training through the
year means there are always
a large number of council
staff on hand who are capable
of forming teams to operate
and support the district’s
Emergency Operations Centre
(EOC) when needed.
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