New app paints clear picture of pesticide resistance across Australia

The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has launched a groundbreaking data visualisation tool that aims to tackle one of agriculture’s most persistent challenges, pesticide resistance. 

This tool, known as the Pesticide Resistance Integrated Mapping (PRIM) app, allows farmers and agronomists across Australia to visualise pesticide resistance patterns, offering insights into the distribution and severity of fungicide resistance. This tool promises to be a game-changer for growers seeking to make data-driven crop management decisions specific to their regions.

The PRIM tool is a product of the Analytics for the Australian Grains Industry (AAGI) program, which is a national initiative led by the GRDC in partnership with Curtin University, the University of Queensland, and the University of Adelaide. The Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM) developed PRIM in collaboration with geospatial technology experts NGIS. In its first release, PRIM focuses on fungicide resistance mapping, although future expansions could cover herbicide, insecticide resistance, and biosecurity data.

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Professor Mark Gibberd, Director of the CCDM, expressed enthusiasm for the PRIM tool’s potential to transform agricultural decision-making. “We are very excited to release the PRIM tool as we feel it could really make a positive difference to current farming systems,” he stated. He emphasised that this tool brings critical data to life, displaying a comprehensive map of fungicide resistance across Australia, which varies by region and pathogen, helping growers identify hotspots and make informed decisions on crop treatments.

Developed as a user-friendly web application, PRIM integrates large datasets with GPS data, providing a map that reveals the distribution of fungicide resistance. NGIS General Manager Matt Stewart highlighted PRIM’s potential to evolve, stating, “As more data is entered into the system, the more accurate the tool gets, and the less guesswork there is for growers.” This feature promises an increasingly precise representation of fungicide resistance levels as it grows.

AAGI Director Nathan O’Callaghan shared that PRIM encapsulates the vision of AAGI: to empower Australian growers through data-driven insights. “AAGI is about creating opportunities for Australian growers to be world leaders in analytics-driven decision-making, and the new PRIM tool will do just that,” he noted.

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Fungicide resistance testing is the first data type displayed in PRIM, with four key pathosystems currently mapped: wheat septoria tritici blotch, wheat powdery mildew, barley net-form net blotch, and barley spot-form net blotch. The CCDM and NGIS plan to expand to additional pathosystems and to include more detailed datasets for a holistic resistance monitoring tool. Associate Professor Fran Lopez-Ruiz, CCDM’s fungicide resistance leader, and researcher Dr. Leon Hodgson collaborated with NGIS to shape PRIM’s fungicide resistance functionality. Professor Lopez-Ruiz emphasized the tool’s utility in presenting a comprehensive resistance landscape, paired with actionable guidance from the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN).

The PRIM tool’s formal launch at the 2024 Crop Protection Forum in Highfields, Queensland, on November 27, is expected to draw significant interest from the industry. As an open-access resource, PRIM is available for users at https://prim.ccdm.com.au/home and aims to become an indispensable tool in advancing sustainable crop protection across Australia’s diverse agricultural landscapes.