Project MT16004 – RD&E Program for control, eradication and preparedness for Vegetable Leafminer (2017-2020), a strategic levy investment under the Hort Innovation Vegetable and Nursery Funds, brings together cesar, the University of Melbourne, Plant Health Australia, the Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy and AUSVEG to undertake a number of activities to prepare for the vegetable leafminer (VLM).
Since 2008, the VLM has been moving down the Torres Strait Islands and in 2015, the pest was detected on the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland. MT16004 was developed in recognition of the impact that the VLM could have on Australian vegetable and nursery production industries if it were to move into vegetable and nursery production areas.
The project has many facets, including: identifying spread pathways of the VLM to Australia; modelling the spread from Cape York Peninsula; investigating biological and chemical control; developing management guidelines and trapping methods; developing a VLM contingency plan; and communicating updates as they arise throughout the lifetime of the project.