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Resources

Manage

disease pressure

Minimise

fungicide use

Engage

with extension

AFREN brings together regional plant pathologists, fungicide resistance experts and communications specialists to develop and deliver resources for growers and advisers. 

You can view and download our resources here. 

Fungicide Resistance Management Guide

Your comprehensive guide to fungicide resistance causes, occurrences and management strategies, prepared by the AFREN team. 

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE
(27MB PDF)

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE
(7MB PDF)

Ground Cover Supplement, January-February 2024

GRDC has invested in the Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN) since 2019, led by Associate Professor Fran Lopez-Ruiz of Curtin University.  This Groundcover Supplement showcases the achievements of AFREN thus far and shines a spotlight on new fungicide-related research underway at Curtin University’s Centre for Crop Disease Management (CCDM).

Click to download the supplement as a PDF, or read some of the articles below:

Knowledge is power when managing fungicide resistance in pulses

Knowledge is power when managing fungicide resistance in pulses

Australian pulse production is threatened by the risk of fungicide resistance. Most crop species are susceptible to one or more fungal diseases and although breeding has developed some resistant varieties, there are still susceptible varieties grown which require more-frequent fungicide applications.

read more
Fungicide resistance in Queensland: be alert

Fungicide resistance in Queensland: be alert

When the first map of fungicide resistance cases in Australia was compiled in 2016 by the research team at Curtin University’s Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM), led by Associate Professor Fran Lopez-Ruiz, Queensland remained a blank region on that map.

read more
Preserving our fungicides

Preserving our fungicides

Fungicides belong to a range of essential crop protectant tools that also include insecticides and herbicides. Fungicides can be classified as contact or systemic. Contact fungicides remain on the plant’s surface and are also referred to as protectant or preventative...

read more
Curbing the rise of fungicide resistance

Curbing the rise of fungicide resistance

The ‘Green Revolution’ and introduction of fungicides, while contributing to a pivotal advancement in grain production, is not without its challenges, foremost among them being the looming threat of fungicide resistance.

read more

Blog Posts

You’ve got to keep it complicated

Most of us would agree with the advertising Meerkat when he advocates making life “simples”. Simple is good. Simple is usually better. But, sometimes it’s good to be complicated, especially when it comes to preventing and managing fungicide resistance. How so?...

How does fungicide resistance develop?

Fungicide resistance is all about selection pressure. Every time a fungicide is applied, we apply selection pressure to the fungal population(s) present in the crop. It’s important to know – it’s a numbers game. More fungicide applications equals more opportunities...

Podcasts

A total of 12 podcasts are available in three series of podcasts.
All podcasts are available on the AFREN website or on most podcast streaming services.

Fact sheets

A number of fact sheets on individual crops, diseases and specific resistance cases have been developed and are available via the AFREN and GRDC websites.

Two general fact sheets – on Fungicides in Australia and How Fungicide Resistance Develops – have also been produced.

Webinars

A total of ten webinars have been delivered in 2020 and 2021 to provide seasonal updates on diseases pressures and fungicide issues. These were regional and featured key AFREN presenters. Recordings of these webinars have been published to the AFREN website.

Videos

Three videos have been produced to help growers understand how fungicide resistance develops and how you can prevent it from becoming an issue in your cropping programs. The videos are available online.

Case studies

AFREN case study – blackleg Wimmera

AFREN case study – blackleg Wimmera

The Wimmera has many cereal and pulse options, which facilitates the use of good agronomic practices such as allowing three or four years between canola rotations and separating new crops from previous seasons’ stubble. These practices should help keep disease pressure at moderate levels. However, blackleg can still be an issue in above-average rainfall years and for individual crops.

read more
AFREN case study – blackleg lower EP

AFREN case study – blackleg lower EP

While Lower Eyre Peninsula canola growers have gained new fungicides for the control of blackleg, simply replacing DMIs with repeated or high frequency use of SDHIs could encourage new resistant strains of the pathogen.
Local growers and agronomists will be able to protect the long-term effectiveness of their new fungicides by strategically using these fungicides when they are most likely to result in an economic yield gain.

read more
AFREN case study – net form net blotch

AFREN case study – net form net blotch

Barley growers on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula have seen how quickly fungicide resistance can turn from a potential problem to serious threat in the absence of good management practices.

Sam Holmes is an experienced agronomist in the region, where barley has proven to be a reliable and economically successful crop over many years.

read more
AFREN case study – septoria tritici blotch

AFREN case study – septoria tritici blotch

Tasmanian wheat growers enjoy a cool climate, relatively high rainfall and long growing season.

However, those cool, moist growing conditions lead to considerable disease pressure from Septoria tritici blotch (STB).

read more

Recommended web resources

GRDC

GRDC Groundcover Supplement: Resistance in Weeds, Pests and Diseases

Issue 139: March – April 2019.

An overview of chemical resistance in weeds, pests and diseases. Largely in laymen’s terms, without compromising on depth or quality.

articles

Spotlight on farm chemical resistance

Umina, Van de Wouw, Hoffman & McDonald

Different needs

Poole et al.

Fungicide resistance challenge

Van de Wouw, Lopez-Ruiz, Milgate & Poole

online fact sheets

Principles of fungicide resistance

Paul Vincelli, Uni of Kentucky.

YouTube videos

Fungicide resistance and management strategies

National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) UK.

Fungicide resistance

Bayer Canada.

Fungicide resistance management

Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (FRAC).

Events

FUNGICIDE RESISTANCE WEBINARS

AFREN hosts webinars at various times. Please check back regularly for updates, or view recordings of previous webinars. 

Pulses and mungbean 2024 seasonal update

FRIDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2024

Centre for Crop Health’s Levente Kiss and AgVic's Josh Fanning provide an update on fungicide resistance detections in mungbean powdery mildew, plus a seasonal update on pulse disease, best-practice management and fungicide use.

Western region 2024 seasonal update

MONDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 2024

DPIRD WA’s Kith Jayasena and Andrea Hills provide an update on fungicide resistance in the western region. This webinar also includes practical strategies for managing diseases and fungicide resistance risk factors.

Southern region 2024 seasonal update

TUESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2024

SARDI’s Tara Garrard and Agriculture Victoria’s Josh Fanning and Hari Dadu provide an update on current disease status and fungicide resistance in the southern region for cereals and pulses. This webinar also includes practical strategies for managing diseases and fungicide resistance risk factors.

Northern region 2024 seasonal update

WEDNESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2024

The Centre for Crop Health’s Noel Knight and NSW DPIRD’s Steve Simpfendorfer and Brad Baxter provide an update on current disease status and fungicide resistance in the northern region for cereals. This webinar also includes practical strategies for managing diseases and fungicide resistance risk factors.

More

info?

Contact us for an event

If you’re interested in having one of our team present an information session on fungicide resistance to your grower or advisory group, please get in touch.

We have regional pathologists in all states, and can deliver in person or online.