Do you use the PestFax map?
The PestFax map is a portal for a wealth of recorded insect and disease information for the WA grainbelt. Growers and consultants may be surprised at how useful this tool is, if you are not already regularly generating maps.
What is the PestFax map?
The PestFax map provides a visual display of all of the pests and diseases occurrences reported by the WA grains industry to the PestFax service since 1996. There are also corresponding PestFacts map services in the eastern states.
Are many maps are generated by the public?
In 2018 an impressive 7,118 maps were generated in total. The top five disorder maps generated were; powdery mildew (157), nematodes (138), sclerotinia stem rot (131), leaf rust (126) and green peach aphid (125).
How do I check what has been reported?
Viewers can choose a host, a disorder and a time period in the PestFax map.
Reported occurrences are displayed as a colour coded squares. Viewers can click on any square to see more detail.
Viewers can compare numbers and patterns of reports between seasons, and they can watch how pests and diseases move during a season.
Maps can be produced showing individual disorders, totals of disorder categories, or totals of all disorders.
I have found an insect or disease in my crop or pasture – how do I report it?
Reports can be made to the PestFax team in a multitude of ways;
- Download and use the PestFax Reporter app
- Email the PestFax team via PestFax@dpird.wa.gov.au
- Phone editor Cindy Webster on +61 (0)0404 819 534
- Make an online report via the PestFax map.
The more reports that are received and mapped the more forewarned growers and consultants are of emerging pest issues in their areas. Reporting both the presence and absence of common disease or pests multiple times is encouraged so that a more detailed ‘picture’ of the distribution and severity of a problem can be built up.
How do I share a generated map with someone else?
Click 'Share' and copy the map link. The map link can be put in a document or sent in a message, and readers can click the link to see the same map.
Positive map feedback
Informal discussions with consultants, agronomists, researchers, other agribusiness practitioners and farmers indicate that a wide diversity of people are using PestFax maps for a variety of reasons.
Chemical company representatives have commented that the maps of seasonal pest and disease incidence and regional movement through time provide valuable support for the logistical movement of chemical stocks to country retail outlets where they are most likely to be needed.
Private and public researchers have provided feedback that they are using the PestFax maps for early awareness of pest and disease outbreaks so that they can respond by prompt establishment of trial sites in specific target areas or can follow the outbreak progression through time.
Comparison of maps of seasonal variations within years and geographical locations helps researchers to identify trends in pest incidence and support development of predictive models.
Consultants and agronomists are eager to follow early season maps of disease and pest incidence so that they can alert their clients to monitor and prepare for likely pest and disease threats.
Similarly, editors of regional and state-wide media outlets seek out PestFax maps to provide them with signals for the production of timely news articles.
PestFax map project history
The PestFax map service was developed through two successive projects jointly funded from 2010-2016 by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and DPIRD (formerly Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia). These projects have been done in partnership with cesar Australia, the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and the Australian Cereal Rust Control Program (ACRCP) at the University of Sydney.
For more information or to generate a map visit DPIRD’s PestFax map.
For more information contact Art Diggle, Senior Research Officer, South Perth on +61 (0)8 9368 3563.