Spotlight on new disease threats to Australia's $280 macadamia crop

New threats to Australia's $280 million macadamia crop have researchers focused on emerging fungal diseases. Associate Professor Femi Akinsanmi from UQ's Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation said the team was working on husk rot, flower diseases and branch dieback. Dr Akinsanmi said husk rot affected the outer husk of the nut and could affect yield by causing the fruit to drop too early, while branch dieback appeared on tree branches or trunks, which can kill a part or the entire tree. "We're now investigating what is causing these diseases, what factors influence disease epidemics and how we can empower and support growers' management decisions," Dr Akinsanmi said. "We're developing a forecasting tool to predict risk, building on our earlier work." The team is midway through a second five year industry project, after earlier success in addressing both husk spot and phytophthora diseases. Dr Akinsanmi said husk spot disease could effectively be controlled using ...