Unit 3 – Area of Study 2: Risks and resilience

Outcome 2

Identify and describe pests, diseases and weeds of concern to Victorian food and fibre industries, describe principles of integrated pest and weed management, analyse the problem of biological resistances and discuss the role of biosecurity.

Examples of learning activities

• Visit the MyPestGuide website (Western Australia is very innovative in pest control and many states use their resources). Go to the Reporter Map and make a list of the pests that are being identified and tracked in Victoria
• Read the article ‘Introduced species: Friend or foe?’ (Australian Museum) and identify native and non-native animals that could be considered a pest to farmers.
• Set up a debate to discuss the topic: ‘Kangaroos are a pest’.
• View Primezone’s flash cards with images of common pests in Australia and discuss how these pests could affect agricultural and horticultural production.
• Search for and identify weeds or pests in the school garden or vegetable patch and describe what makes them a weed or a pest.
• Refer to the summary of pests, diseases and weeds (docx - 62.94kb) specified in the VCE Agricultural and Horticultural Studies Study Design. Identify ways each impacts specific animals and/or plants. Present information in an expanded version of this table.
• Refer to the Index of issues related to animal ethics to investigate the behaviour that different animals exhibit when affected by pest or disease.
• Conduct a series of scientific experiments to provide pre- and post- treatment data to evaluate the effectiveness of the main control measures for plant and animal pests and diseases.
• Explore Agriculture Victoria’s information about Russian wheat aphid and discuss the strategies used to prevent and control the pest.
• Research how the principles of integrated pest management can be applied to sheep by reading about Agriculture Victoria’s Livestock integrated pest management (IPM) monitoring tools.
• Visit a commercial agricultural or horticultural practice to identify the methods of prevention and treatment of weeds being used.
• Draw and annotate the identifying features of the following weeds: flickweed, gorse, wild radish.
• Watch the YouTube clip Spray risk management: Spray drift (2:26 mins). Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of spraying as a strategy for prevention and control of weeds and pests.
• Conduct a media analysis of how the use of glyphosate is talked about. Create a list of examples for how each author communicates and/or explains scientific ideas.
• Visit a commercial large-scale or small-scale farm. Document ways in which the farm is following the integrated principles of weed, pest and disease management.
  
• Provide examples of how the use of chemicals (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and nematicides) can lead to resistance and economic loss due to unnecessary use and risk of negative environmental impacts.
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  Analyse a common weed (flickweed, gorse or wild radish) in relation to herbicide resistance.
• Watch the ABC Catalyst video clip UG99 (6:44 mins) about the UG99A virulent fungus. Discuss why an Australian team of scientists joined an international effort to control the fungus and the scientific methodology used to find a resistant crop.
• Read the Australian Government’s Department of Agriculture and Water Resources media release entitled ‘Interim measures for all strawberry exports’ (September 2018). Explain how the biosecurity measures and laws affecting Australian agriculture and horticulture have changed as a result of this biosecurity scare.
• Discuss biosecurity methods used in Australia to prevent pests and diseases; for example, quarantine, governmental monitoring programs and controlled spraying.
  

 

Detailed example

Analyse a common weed in relation to herbicide resistance

Students complete the following activities:

1. Select a weed to examine in detail, for example, ‘wild radish’.
2. Use resources such as the resource sheet ‘Wild Radish’ from the Grains Research and Development Corporation and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (WA) to research the wild radish weed.
   
3. If circumstances permit, practise identifying the weed during a field trip to a local farm. Create a map of the farm, documenting how many weeds there are and where they are located. Consider whether it is appropriate to pull the weed from the ground and observe the root structure.
4. Refer to Agriculture Victoria’s information about ‘Herbicide resistance and integrated weed management (IWM)’ in crops and pasture monitoring tools and document the reasons for, and impacts of, herbicide resistance in weeds. Also document which herbicides the wild radish is resistant to.
5. Refer to Safe Work Australia’s ‘Material safety data sheet’. Identify a herbicide used on the wild radish. Develop a poster directed at farm workers using the product to ensure they comply with safety guidelines.