Crops

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development continues to support the growth and international competitiveness of all crop industries in Western Australia.

With a 2400 kilometre span from its tropical north to its temperate south, WA supports a broad range of cropping industries from rain-fed winter cereals through to irrigated horticultural crops.

In the 2012/13 year the WA cropping industries exported a total of $3.9 billion which comprised: $3.1 billion of cereals, $859 million of pulses, pastures and oilseeds, $142 million of horticultural crops. The major contributors to these exports were wheat ($2.7 billion), canola ($756 million), barley ($377 million), lupins ($42 million), carrots at $48 million, oats ($12 million), and strawberries at $5.5 million.

Articles

  • Affected plants stunted with stiff, rolled leaves, which are sometimes darker than those of healthy plants.

    A widespread root disease caused by a soil-borne fungus and generating yield losses of 1-5% in Western Australia each year.

  • In 2015 powdery mildew reached damaging levels in several regions. With the green bridge leading into the 2016 season, the disease could have significant impacts.

  • Nematodes can feed on root tissues of a wide range of plant species and lead to root damage which can result in significant crop yield loss.

  • Establishing yield loss in wheat cultivars with different levels of resistance in the presence of a range of infection levels of Fusarium pseudograminearum across different environments.

  • Yellow-orange pustules are arranged in stripes along the leaf veins.

    Stripe rust is a fungal foliar disease specific to wheat that can cause up to 60% yield loss and reduce grain quality, particularly when susceptible varieties are infected early.

     

  • Small, circular to oval pustules with orange to light brown dusty spores on upper surface of leaves.

    Leaf rust (Puccinia triticina) is a fungal leaf disease specific to wheat that can pose a significant threat to the yield and quality of Western Australian wheat crops in some seasons, cau

  • In severe cases whole plants develop white heads after flowering.

    A fungal disease most common in continuous cereal crops, which affects roots and lower stems and is usually not detected until after heading.

  • All exposed parts are affected, more on one side with spray drift

    This category includes contact herbicides from a range of chemical groups that require uniform spray coverage to be fully effective.

  • Barley plant death from Fusilade® spray drift from neighbouring lupin paddock

    These are post-emergent grass contol herbicides used for annual ryegrass and/or wild oat control in wheat and barley or non-selective grass control in broadleaf crops.

  • Plants infected as seedlings are spindly with multiple tillers

    Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) is a seed and mite-borne virus that infects cereals (including wheat and barley) and grasses.