Centre for Crop and Disease Management

Last week our staff had a great time chatting to high school students in the Curtin University DISCOVER program, all about our centre's research and career pathways into agriculture and science 🌾 👩🔬 Bernadette Henares and Lisa Smith got chatting to students about the many research areas that CCDM covers and getting students to 'Guess the Grains' that they brought along 🌱 Lots of students were onto identifying the chickpeas correctly! 🔍 Thanks to Curtin STEM Outreach and Tamra Kidner for getting us involved!

Into the field on our new Curtin University COGGO funded co-infection project in canola. Blackleg isolates and Sclerotinia sclerotia collected in the same paddock. So exciting to get started on a project that I have wanted to investigate for a while, and with Honours embedded. Centre for Crop and Disease Management. The Grain Industry Association of WA (GIWA)

🚜 It's field work season! Check out these snapshots from our lentil disease nursery in Northam. 🌱 We have two disease nurseries for lentils, recently infected with two different pathotypes of Ascochyta blight. These replicated microplots (hillplots) include two cross populations and a set of 500 breeding or other genetically diverse materials selected by breeders 🌿 The infected lentils on these plots will be studied by our scientists to improve our understanding of Ascochyta blight in lentils. Swipe through to see these snaps from Christy Grime of our nurseries at different stages of growth and infection. 📸✨

Nungarin farmers and Merredin and Districts Farm Improvement Group (MADFIG) members, Mick and Kate Caughey, stopped applying nitrogen on their heavy country after on-farm demonstrations showed it was not beneficial during most years. Watch Mick's #WADroughtHub #DrySeasonShorts video to learn more 🎬 Read the case study ➡️ https://lnkd.in/grrBD4Ek The On-Farm Experimentation project was led by the Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM) at Curtin University, with financial support from the Food Agility CRC, Curtin University, the State Government of Western Australia through the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI) and the Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development, and NGIS as well as the co-investment from JTSI, Curtin and Murdoch University, through the Premier’s Agriculture and Food Fellowship Program, and in collaboration with CSBP, the Grower Group Alliance and the Curtin Biometry and Ag Data Analytics group in the CCDM.

Pleased to have won First Prize in the 2024 Canadian Phytopathological Society (CPS) photo contest. Thank you, CPS and judges, for this prize. I took this photo while collecting soil samples in a canola paddock in Kojonup (WA, AU) that was highly affected with Sclerotinia stem rot. Category: Plant Pathology in the Field Photo description: Severe symptoms of Sclerotinia stem rot caused by the broad host range fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, leading to stem lodging in canola taken in Western Australia 2022 Thanks to my Sclerotinia research team (Sarita Bennett Pippa Michael Rachael Crockett Bec Swift) at Centre for Crop and Disease Management Curtin University for their assistance in selecting this paddock and collecting soil samples. Thanks, Ben Webb, the farm owner, for allowing us to enter your paddock. Without your involvement and assistance, this shot may not have been taken. #PlantPathology #PlantProtection #GrainIndustry #Sclerotinia #StemRot #WhiteMold #PlantDisease #Australia #Science #Phytopathology #Extension #Brassica #Legumes #APPS #APS

Congratulations to Mark Derbyshire who has been awarded the Centre for Crop and Disease Management Award for Level C and D academic staff members for 2024! At CCDM, we believe in celebrating our collective achievements but also the outstanding contributions of individuals. These awards recognize excellence and provide well-deserved recognition for exceptional team members. Mark received this award for contributing to CCDM’s research impact through publications in prestigious academic journals, building strong networks with international research leaders and establishing long term partnerships with industry. Since joining CCDM in 2015, Mark has focused on enhancing canola breeding for disease resistance, and now leads a project focusing on Sclerotinia stem rot resistance in canola and pulses. Mark's expertise spans molecular biology, computational science, statistics, and bioinformatics. As a project leader, he collaborates with colleagues to advance disease management in canola. Mark's passion for plant breeding drives him to implement cutting-edge techniques, and we're thrilled to see his hard work acknowledged with this award. Read more on Mark’s Nature paper published last year: https://lnkd.in/gd8cXQkm Or read the paper directly: https://lnkd.in/gP3hY5DB Congratulations, Mark, on this well-earned award! Grains Research and Development Corporation, Curtin University Media

Beautiful illustration of the Verticilium Stripe Disease Cycle in #Canola - caused by the soil-borne fungus #Verticillium longisporium. Note that this fungal pathogen can use weedy host species such as wild mustard and others outside of the Brassicaceae family as host species. * Image and source: Canola Council of Canada (https://lnkd.in/gHHvzfQu) #PlantDisease #DiseaseCycle #Microsclerotia #Sclerotia #Wilt #FungalPathogen #Stem #DiseaseManagement #Brassica

🌟TOMORROW - 9 July, 9.00-10.30am AEST🌟 GRDC Grains Research Update, online – Practical management of ascochyta in chickpeas With a wetter start to the season and more chickpeas being sown this year than in the past few years, this GRDC Grains Research Update online looks at practical management for ascochyta this season. ⭐ Fungicide strategy and timing for ascochyta in chickpeas in different varieties and situations: Paul McIntosh (Pulse Australia | WeedSmart) ⭐Increasing levels of pathogenicity – what's happening where, and implications fungicide strategy, plus a new decision support tool: Ido Bar (Griffith University) ⭐Consultant strategies for managing ascochyta – key decisions and managing risk: Ross Pomroy (Nutrien Ag Solutions - Australia) & Rob Holmes (HMAg) Register now: https://bit.ly/4cybh3F Independent Consultants Australia Network (ICAN)

Congrats to Dr. Fatima Naim, for being named Curtin University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering’s Mid-Career Scientist of the Year! 🎉 Fatima's groundbreaking research on plant disease resistance and data management is paving the way for more durable crops. Her work includes pioneering calcium redistribution studies in wheat using high-resolution microscopy at the Australian Synchrotron. 🌾🔬 Fatima has also formed a unique collaboration with Genomics WA that has resulted in the deployment of new genomic technologies to solve agricultural problems, including rich datasets that provide new insights into disease dynamics not previously available. Leading the Grains Research and Development Corporation funded DataHarvest project, she is helping to ensure that research data generated from GRDC investments are collected and stored in a way that makes them easy to find, access and reuse, accelerating new research outcomes with improved efficiency and less duplication. This project is now well underway, with her team currently connecting with GRDC research partners across Australia to build capacity and capability in the management of grains research data 👩💻 🖥️ The Curtin award recognises research excellence through demonstration of a track record of consistently securing external research funding, top quality publications as well as national and international collaborations, and engagement with external stakeholders and communities in developing and delivering research. Join us in celebrating Fatima’s incredible achievements! 👏 Curtin University Media

🎉 Join us in celebrating a decade of ground-breaking research at the CCDM as we reflect on the remarkable achievements and impactful work of our dedicated teams🌾 Since the first Australian discovery of fungicide resistance in 2010, research at CCDM has continuously focused on finding solutions for growers faced with fungicide resistance on their properties. In this special video, take a journey and explore the development of fungicide resistance detection technologies with Fran Lopez-Ruiz, Wesley Mair and Kat Zulak. These technologies make it possible to keep up with this constantly evolving issue and now, industry is much better equipped with knowledge on how resistance develops, and how to reduce the risk of it developing further 🌿 Our fungicide resistance team's outstanding work keeps us at the forefront of helping growers manage resistance issues in their field 💡 🚜 #CCDM10Years #CropDisease Grains Research and Development Corporation, Curtin University, Curtin University Media