This case study discusses the value of adhering to best practice plant protection programs such as NIASA, and provides practical guidance for how this could enhance customer confidence and drive greater business outcomes. It features John McDonald, National Biosecurity Manager, GIA and Ben Archibald, owner, Touchwood Nursery
The first step in meeting the requirements of the Australian Plant Production Standard (APPS) is gaining Nursery Industry Accreditation Scheme Australia accreditation. NIASA is the cornerstone of APPS and provides a set of guidelines that ensures a business operates according to industry best practice and commits to a continuous improvement cycle.
EcoHort is the nursery industry specific Environmental Management System (EMS) providing a systematic approach for businesses to assess their environmental and natural resource management responsibilities as part of their daily business management.
Sticky traps are a valuable aid in monitoring crops to detect early pest invasions, or to demonstrate property freedom of flying insects. Sticky traps record and highlight the activity of these flying insect pests.
Hygiene procedures are paramount for the control of plant pests, pathogens and weeds in any production nursery, greenlife market and growing media manufacturer. Effective hygiene and disinfestation protocols must be developed for the successful control of biosecurity issues, in high risk production situations.
Hygiene procedures are paramount for the control of plant pests, pathogens and weeds in any production nursery, greenlife market and growing media manufacturer. Effective hygiene and disinfestation protocols must be developed, to successfully control biosecurity issues in high risk production situations.
Knowing the pH and Electrical Conductivity or EC of your irrigation and drainage water can help you to grow better and more consistent crops. Testing procedures aren’t difficult and can be done at minimal cost. This video shows a process for carrying out a practical on-site pH and electrical conductivity test on water.
All vehicles entering the nursery production area can be a potential biosecurity risk. To mitigate this risk, entry should be restricted to all but essential vehicles. Any vehicle required to enter the nursery production area should be thoroughly inspected at a designated vehicle inspection point by following the BioSecure HACCP vehicle inspection procedure.
Site surveillance of production nurseries, greenlife markets and growing media manufacturers is a risk assessment process designed to identify production risks including; pest populations, diseases, weed growth, erosion and infrastructure failure. This video is a practical demonstration of a site surveillance procedure applied on a production nursery.