PestFacts WA

Using automated spore trapping to track crop diseases in WA

BioScout’s SporeScout unit in a wheat crop. Photo courtesy of: BioScout.

Spore trapping involves capturing airborne biological particles such as plant disease spores from the air.

DPIRD, in partnership with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and BioScout, have begun a project called “Scaling commercial technology for disease spore trapping”. This project aims to evaluate advanced commercial technology for crop disease monitoring system, focusing on the use of automated SporeScout units produced and supplied by BioScout. The project’s primary objective is to enhance disease detection in crops, allowing for prompt interventions by growers that could protect yields and optimise resource use.

BioScout’s spore traps (SporeScout) work by using a fan to draw in air, which capture spores on a transparent sticky tape. Robotic imaging technology then takes high resolution pictures of the trapped spores. These images are sent to BioScout’s headquarters, where artificial intelligence (AI), and plant pathologists such as DPIRD’s Kithsiri Jayasena, identify and count the spores. The resulting data is shared with growers, enabling them to respond quickly to disease threats and minimise yield loss.

A total of 20 SporeScout units have been strategically installed across the Kwinana, Albany, and Esperance port zones, covering areas from Northam to Esperance. These units are capturing and counting spores for the following diseases: blackleg, botrytis, cereal powdery mildew, general Alternaria and general rusts. DPIRD staff will be checking nearby crops to verify the accuracy of the spore trapping result and provide additional surveillance data.

All WA growers and consultants are invited to check on the spore counts detected by the SporeScout units by registering and logging into the BioScout dashboard.

For more information about BioScout’s products and research, visit the BioScout page.

For more information on DPIRD’s involvement in the GRDC co-funded SporeScout project, contact Kithsiri Jayasena, Senior Research Scientist in Albany on +61 8 9892 8477.

For more information on BioScout products contact Project Officer and Science Liaison Officer Megan Deveson via email at megan@bioscout.com.au .

Article author(s): Cindy Webster (DPIRD Narrogin) and Kithsiri Jayasena (DPIRD Albany).

Article input: Megan Deveson (BioScout).