Strategic Mushroom Pest and Disease Management Downunder

摘要

The Australian mushroom industry has had to take control of its own destiny with respect to pest and disease management. This has been necessitated by the demise of traditional service providers such as state departments of agriculture, universities and private consultants. This paper describes the strategies and services the industry has implemented through the Australian Mushroom Growers Association (AMGA) to meet the pest and disease management needs of growers and other stakeholders in the industry. The strategic issues that are covered include: the vision, planning, global liaison, communication / representation, mushroom PR / marketing and the industry management structure that has emerged to enable the industry to deal with a wide range of pest and disease issues. The services described include: AMGA Pest and Disease Management Service (Agora, R&D, grower and manager skills training, strategic reporting; AMGA QA/Food Safety Service; AMGA/ Sydney University Marsh Lawson Mushroom Research Unit; and scientist training development. The paper concludes that industry risk management strategies will demand that industry leaders take action that ensures their industry is adequately resourced and managed with respect to pest and disease threats at the national, regional and individual grower level. The "so far successful" AMGA pest and disease management model described may be useful for mushroom industry leaders in countries that are suffering a decline in government-sponsored services. However, there is much work to be done over the next decade if the pest and disease services developed are to become sustainable. Work needs to accelerate soon if the goal is to be achieved.