Stakeholder expectations for environmental assurance in agriculture: Lessons from the pastoral industry

This paper outlines the expectations of a wide range of stakeholders for environmental assurance in the pastoral industries and agriculture generally. Stakeholders consulted were domestic consumers, rangeland graziers, members of environmental groups, companies within meat and wool supply chains, and agricultural industry, environmental and consumer groups. Most stakeholders were in favour of the application of environmental assurance to agriculture, although supply chains and consumers had less enthusiasm for this than environmental and consumer groups. General public good benefits were more important to environmental and consumer groups, while private benefits were more important to consumers and supply chains. The 'ideal' form of environmental assurance appears to be a management system that provides for continuous improvement in environmental, quality and food safety outcomes, combined with elements of ISO 14024 eco-labelling such as life-cycle assessment, environmental performance criteria, third-party certification, labelling and multi-stakeholder involvement. However, market failure prevents this from being implemented and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. In the short term, members of supply chains (the people that must implement and fund environmental assurance) want this to be kept simple and low cost, to be built into their existing industry standards and to add value to their businesses. As a starting point, several agricultural industry organisations favour the use of a basic management system, combining continuous improvement, risk assessment and industry best management practice programs, which can be built on over time to meet regulator, market and community expectations.

Establishment of an Australian mild onion industry - the sensory component

In recent years, there has been increasing interest from growers, merchants, supermarkets and consumers in the establishment of a national mild onion industry. Imperative to the success of the emergent industry is the application of the National Mild Onion Certification Scheme that will establish standards and recommendations to be met by growers to allow them to declare their product as certified mild onions. The use of sensory evaluation techniques has played an imperative role throughout the project timeline that has also included varietal evaluation, evaluation of current agronomic practices and correlation of chemical analysis data. Raw onion consumer acceptance testing on five different onion varieties established preferences amongst the varieties for odour, appearance, flavour, texture and overall and differences in the level of pungency and aftertaste perceived. Demographic information was obtained regarding raw and cooked onion use, frequency of consumption and responses to the idea of a mild, less pungent onion. Additionally, focus groups were conducted to further investigate consumer attitudes to onions. Currently, a trained onion panel is being established to evaluate several odour, flavour and aftertaste attributes. Sample assessments will be conducted in January 2004 and correlated with chemical analyses that will hopefully provide the corner-stone for the anticipated Certification Scheme.

Global trade in ornamental fish from an Australian perspective: The case for revised import risk analysis and management strategies

Over 1 billion ornamental fish comprising more than 4000 freshwater and 1400 marine species are traded internationally each year, with 8-10 million imported into Australia alone. Compared to other commodities, the pathogens and disease translocation risks associated with this pattern of trade have been poorly documented. The aim of this study was to conduct an appraisal of the effectiveness of risk analysis and quarantine controls as they are applied according to the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement in Australia. Ornamental fish originate from about 100 countries and hazards are mostly unknown; since 2000 there have been 16-fold fewer scientific publications on ornamental fish disease compared to farmed fish disease, and 470 fewer compared to disease in terrestrial species (cattle). The import quarantine policies of a range of countries were reviewed and classified as stringent or non-stringent based on the levels of pre-border and border controls. Australia has a stringent policy which includes pre-border health certification and a mandatory quarantine period at border of 1-3 weeks in registered quarantine premises supervised by government quarantine staff. Despite these measures there have been many disease incursions as well as establishment of significant exotic viral, bacterial, fungal, protozoal and metazoan pathogens from ornamental fish in farmed native Australian fish and free-living introduced species. Recent examples include Megalocytivirus and Aeromonas salmonicida atypical strain. In 2006, there were 22 species of alien ornamental fish with established breeding populations in waterways in Australia and freshwater plants and molluscs have also been introduced, proving a direct transmission pathway for establishment of pathogens in native fish species. Australia's stringent quarantine policies for imported ornamental fish are based on import risk analysis under the SPS agreement but have not provided an acceptable level of protection (ALOP) consistent with government objectives to prevent introduction of pests and diseases, promote development of future aquaculture industries or maintain biodiversity. It is concluded that the risk analysis process described by the Office International des Epizooties under the SPS agreement cannot be used in a meaningful way for current patterns of ornamental fish trade. Transboundary disease incursions will continue and exotic pathogens will become established in new regions as a result of the ornamental fish trade, and this will be an international phenomenon. Ornamental fish represent a special case in live animal trade where OIE guidelines for risk analysis need to be revised. Alternatively, for countries such as Australia with implied very high ALOP, the number of species traded and the number of sources permitted need to be dramatically reduced to facilitate hazard identification, risk assessment and import quarantine controls. Lead papers of the eleventh symposium of the International Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE), Cairns, Australia

Nutritional management for reproductive efficiency

Nutrition influences reproductive efficiency and the survival of lambs and weaners but the costs of supplementary feeding or maintaining low stocking rates are not justified by the resulting income from higher lamb weaning rates and reduced weaner mortality. The current practice of segmenting the ewe flock using ultrasound scanning to determine the number of foetuses still results in groups of ewes with a wide range of condition scores and with widely differing nutritional requirements. This report describes an approach to precision management of pregnant ewes and weaners that is based on the e-sheep platform of technologies and uses computer-directed drafting for nutritional management of individual animals and walk-through weighing to monitor changing nutritional status. It is estimated that the cost of feeding a thousand-ewe flock can be reduced from $14,000 for feeding all animals to $3300 for targeted feeding of 25% of ewes requiring additional nutrition and 20% of weaners at risk of dying. The cost of the targeted feeding strategy is more than justified by the value of additional 12-month-old animals, which is $9000. The e-sheep precision nutrition system is not attractive to industry at this stage because of the cost of the e-sheep infrastructure, the perceived complexity of the technology and the requirement for further research, but it is expected to be a commercial option within three years.

CRC20093 Increasing Diagnostic Capacity in Thailand

Accurate identification of pests is essential for practically all aspects of agricultural development and is critical to the operations of biosecurity that safeguard agricultural integrity and facilitate trade. Diagnostic capability is at the forefront of and complementary to, activities such as border protection, incursion management, surveillance and pest and disease certification. The efficiency of a biosecurity system therefore depends largely on the feedback between these activities and diagnostics. Australian scientists will train Thai scientists in diagnostics and surveillance to provide the Thai DOA with skills that will aid in the development of a Thai Diagnostic Network. The skills will be taught using a range of pests, including some which have particular biosecurity importance for both Australia and Thailand such as citrus canker, potato viruses and fruit flies.

Isohydric and anisohydric characterisation of vegetable crops. The classification of vegetables by their physiological responses to water stress

Research on the physiological response of crop plants to drying soils and subsequent water stress has grouped plant behaviours as isohydric and anisohydric. Drying soil conditions, and hence declining soil and root water potentials, cause chemical signals—the most studied being abscisic acid (ABA)—and hydraulic signals to be transmitted to the leaf via xylem pathways. Researchers have attempted to allocate crops as isohydric or anisohydric. However, different cultivars within crops, and even the same cultivars grown in different environments/climates, can exhibit both response types. Nevertheless, understanding which behaviours predominate in which crops and circumstances may be beneficial. This paper describes different physiological water stress responses, attempts to classify vegetable crops according to reported water stress responses, and also discusses implications for irrigation decision-making.

Economic modelling of grazing systems in the Fitzroy and Burdekin catchments

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the largest reef system in the world; it covers an area of approximately 2,225,000 km² in the northern Queensland continental shelf. There are approximately 750 reefs that exist within 40 km of the Queensland coast. Recent research has identified that poor water quality is having negative impacts on the GBR (Haynes et al. 2007). The Fitzroy Basin covers 143,000 km² and is the largest catchment draining into the GBR as well as being one of the largest catchments in Australia (Karfs et al. 2009). The Burdekin Catchment is the second largest catchment entering into the GBR and covers 133,432 km².The prime determinant for the changes in water quality entering into the GBR have been attributed to grazing, with beef production the largest single land use industry comprising 90% of the land area (Karfs et al. 2009). Extensive beef production contributes over $1 billion dollars to the national economy annually and employs over 9000 people, many in rural communities (Gordon 2007). ‘Economic modelling of grazing systems in the Fitzroy and Burdekin catchments’ was a joint project with the Fitzroy Basin Association and the Queensland Department of Employment Economic Development and Innovation. The project was formed under the federally funded Caring For Our Country and the Reef Rescue programs. The project objectives were as follows; * Quantifying the costs of over-utilising available pasture and the resulting sediment leaving a representative farm for four of the major land systems in the Burdekin or Fitzroy catchments and identifying economically optimal pasture utilisation rates * Estimating the cost of reducing pasture utilisation rates below the determined optimal * Using this information, guide the selection of appropriate tools to achieve reduced utilisation rates e.g. extension process versus incentive payments or a combination of both * Model the biophysical and economic impacts of altering grazing systems to restore land condition e.g. from C condition to B condition for four land systems in the Burdekin or Fitzroy catchments.

Bioactivity of tea tree oil from Melaleuca alternifolia against sheep lice (Bovicola ovis Schrank) in vitro

Tea tree oil (TTO) from the Australian native plant Melaleuca alternifolia has wide ranging bio-active properties, including insecticidal and repellent activity against arthropods. Furthermore, composition of commercially available Australian TTO is specified under an International Organization for Standardization standard (ISO 4730), reducing the potential for variable effects often noted with botanical pesticides. The effect of TTO, meeting the ISO standard for terpinen-4-ol chemotype, was tested against sheep lice (Bovicola ovis Schrank) in a series of laboratory studies. Immersion of wool for 60s in formulations containing concentrations of 1% TTO and above caused 100% mortality of adult lice and eggs. Exposure to vapours from TTO, delivered as droplets in fumigation chambers and when applied to wool also caused high mortality in both lice and eggs. The main active component of TTO in the fumigant tests was terpinen-4-ol. Treated surface assays and tests with wool where the formulation was allowed to dry before exposure of lice indicated low persistence. These studies demonstrate that TTO is highly toxic to sheep lice and active at concentrations that suggest potential for the development of TTO-based ovine lousicides. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Australia's newest quarantine for biological control

The paper describes the QC3 quarantine facility and supporting infrastructure which were purpose built for weed biological control at the Ecosciences Precinct. The quarantine is one of two new weed quarantine facilities in Australia and will service northern Australia. An account of the sharing philosophy between CSIRO and the Queensland Government and the necessity of working very closely with architects, project managers, builders and quarantine personnel is also given. This philosophy contributed to certification of the facility without any undue delays.

Development of a Multiplexed Bead-Based Suspension Array for the Detection and Discrimination of Pospiviroid Plant Pathogens

Efficient and reliable diagnostic tools for the routine indexing and certification of clean propagating material are essential for the management of pospiviroid diseases in horticultural crops. This study describes the development of a true multiplexed diagnostic method for the detection and identification of all nine currently recognized pospiviroid species in one assay using Luminex bead-based suspension array technology. In addition, a new data-driven, statistical method is presented for establishing thresholds for positivity for individual assays within multiplexed arrays. When applied to the multiplexed array data generated in this study, the new method was shown to have better control of false positives and false negative results than two other commonly used approaches for setting thresholds. The 11-plex Luminex MagPlex-TAG pospiviroid array described here has a unique hierarchical assay design, incorporating a near-universal assay in addition to nine species-specific assays, and a co-amplified plant internal control assay for quality assurance purposes. All assays of the multiplexed array were shown to be 100% specific, sensitive and reproducible. The multiplexed array described herein is robust, easy to use, displays unambiguous results and has strong potential for use in routine pospiviroid indexing to improve disease management strategies.

Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) for Control of Black Spot Formation in Chilled Prawns

The marketing of organically labeled prawns is predominately in a cooked or raw frozen form to avoid the development of melanosis (black spot). Certification for organic status prohibits the use of any added chemicals. The application of 60% CO2/40%N2 modified atmosphere to chilled (raw) prawns using two species of prawn was investigated for the ability to control black spot formation. Sensory assessment and microbiological counts were used to determine the end of product shelf life. Modified atmosphere packaged (MAP) prawns exhibited no melanosis for up to 16 days. The high quality life was retained for 12 days; shelf life of 16 days, according to standard microbiological criteria, was achieved, which is more than twice previously reported for non-MAP prawns. Results suggest MAP may be an effective method for the marketing of organically grown prawns as well as those produced by conventional prawn aquaculture without application of the normal chemicals used to prevent black spot. Copyright © 2014 Crown Copyright.