Summary

Australia’s freedom from many exotic pests (insects, disease causing pathogens, mites, nematodes and weeds) provides the ginger industry with significant production advantages.

The review the Biosecurity Plan (BP) and the identification of the industry’s most significant pests provides a mechanism for industries, in collaboration with governments, to identify, assess, and prioritise biosecurity threats and provides a framework for risk mitigation and preparedness activities. When combined with PHA membership and signing of the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD) biosecurity planning provides an opportunity for the ginger industry to enhance its ability to prevent, prepare for, or respond effectively to, pest incursions.

The Biosecurity Plan review process has recently been improved to more proactively identify and monitor implementation of biosecurity measures. The first part of the review process involves establishment of a Technical Expert Group (TEG) to evaluate pest threats. Following the identification of pest threats, a Biosecurity Implementation Group is formed to develop a 5 year Biosecurity Implementation Table to guide biosecurity activities within the industry. The Biosecurity Implementation Table is then reviewed each year by a Biosecurity Reference Panel to monitor activities, evaluate any new or emerging pest threats and gauge progress against the Biosecurity Implementation Table. Every BP is jointly endorsed by the industry and all governments (state and commonwealth), cementing the shared approach to protecting the industry.

Program

Ginger

Research Organisation

Plant Health Australia Limited

Objective Summary

Review of the Biosecurity Plan for the ginger industry will provide a framework for biosecurity activities to be implemented at the national level. Identification of High Priority Pests (HPPs) will assist with prioritising biosecurity preparedness activities such as surveillance, grower awareness programs, and the development of diagnostic protocols, contingency plans, and farm best practice biosecurity measures.
The Ginger BP would be based on Version 1.0 of the Ginger Industry Biosecurity Plan, which PHA developed in association with the ginger industry in 2013 (as part of RIRDC project: PRJ-008167), and similar BPs produced by PHA for its other plant industry Members. This proposal fits within Objective 1 “Drive on-farm productivity – disease management, innovative technology and certified seed” of the Ginger Program RD&E Plan 2017-2022.
Specific objectives that would be addressed through review of the BP are:

• Review of all exotic pest threats to the ginger industry, including analysis of the entry, establishment and spread potentials together with the potential economic impact to develop a HPP list.

• Gap analysis of preparedness for the industry’s HPPs.

• Guidance towards farm level biosecurity best practice.

• Identification of surveillance and diagnostic requirements for the ginger industry.

• Prioritisation of biosecurity activities to provide direction for allocation of biosecurity resources within industry and government.

• Improved understanding of biosecurity activities undertaken at the national, state, industry and individual grower levels.
Development and annual review of the Biosecurity Implementation Table provides a mechanism for monitoring of biosecurity preparedness.