Browsing by Author "Stirling, GR"

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Improved sugarcane farming systems : SRDC Final report BSS286
(2010) Salter, B; Bell, MJ; Stirling, GR; Garside, AL; Moody, PJ
This project - Improved Sugarcane Farming Systems (BSS286) - was designed to build on the outcomes of phase 1 and 2 or the Sugar Yield Decline Joint Venture (STDJV). Thus its main focus was on issues that had been identified in the SYDJV that were not fully researched in the earlier programs and/or required further development.
Plant-parasitic and free-living nematodes associated with sugarcane in North Queensland
(ASSCT, 2018) Bull, J; Stirling, GR; Magarey, R
SURVEYS OF NORTH Queensland sugarcane soils indicated that root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus zeae) was the most important nematode pest because it occurred in most fields and was often present at high population densities. However, the presence of root knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.) in sandy soils and the relatively widespread distribution of moderately pathogenic nematodes such as stunt nematode (Tylenchorhynchus annulatus), stubby root nematode (Paratrichodorus minor), ring nematode (various Criconematidae) and dagger nematode (Xiphinema elongatum) suggested that in most fields, several nematode species were feeding on roots and contributing to root health problems. With regard to the free-living nematode community, survey results showed that bacterial-feeding nematodes were much more common than fungal-feeding nematodes and numbers of omnivorous and predatory nematodes were relatively low. Collectively, these findings suggest that the biological status of many north Queensland sugarcane soils is relatively poor. In addition to having high numbers of plant-parasitic nematodes they have low numbers of fungal-feeding nematodes. This indicates that fungi are not an important component of the detritus food web and this has implications for the ecosystem services they provide: decomposition of recalcitrant forms of organic matter; aggregation of soil particles; enhancement of plant nutrient uptake; improvement of disease resistance in plants; and suppression of pests and pathogens. The lack of omnivorous and predatory nematodes also has implications for pest suppression, as these nematodes help regulate populations of plant-parasitic nematodes.
Sugar yield decline joint venture, phase 2 : SRDC Final report
(2006) Garside, AL; Bell, MJ; Pankhurst, CE; Stirling, GR; Magarey, RC; Blair, BL; Moody, PJ; Robotham, BG; Braunack, MV; Agnew, JA
Research in phase 2 has greatly increased our understanding of how farming systems operate, the key components of farming systems, and how they can be manipulated to provide better outcomes.
The bacterial biocontrol agent pasteuria penetrans can help control root-knot nematode on sugarcane
(ASSCT, 2018) Bhuiyan, SA; Stirling, GR; Garlick, K; Anderson, J; Wickramasinghe, P; Wong, E
ROOT-KNOT NEMATODE (Meloidogyne javanica) is one of the most damaging pests of sugarcane, often causing heavy losses in coarse-textured sandy soils. The bacterial parasite Pasteuria penetrans is a potentially useful biocontrol agent and in a 2015–16 survey it was found at relatively high levels in three of the 126 sugarcane fields surveyed. Soil was collected from one of the heavily-infested fields and a pot experiment established to compare root-knot nematode multiplication in naturally infested soil and in soil where the endospores of P. penetrans had been killed by autoclaving. After 37 weeks, the root-knot nematode population was very high in the autoclaved soil but numbers of root-knot nematode eggs and second-stage juveniles were 99% lower in the soil that was naturally-infested with P. penetrans. A subsequent pot experiment with mass-produced endospores showed that when soil contained more than 6 000 endospores/g soil, root galling was not as severe as in non-infested soil and the number of root-knot nematode eggs was reduced by 71–82%. These results indicate that when high endospore concentrations are continually maintained in the root zone, P. penetrans will markedly reduce populations of one of the most important nematode pests of sugarcane.