Established pest animals and weeds are a significant threat to Australia’s economy, environment and industries.
To manage established pest animals and weeds, the Australian Government is investing $30.3 million through the Established Pest Animal and Weed Management Pipeline Program over four years (2019-20 to 2022-23). The program aims to improve the way priority established pest animals and weeds are managed in partnership with state and territory governments, land managers and communities.
$13 million has been committed as part of the pipeline program to fund 19 successful projects through the Advancing Pest Animal and Weed Control Solutions competitive grant round.
Successful projects will advance research and development of new or improved control solutions for over 45 of Australia’s most invasive pest species, including fall army worm, hive beetle, lantana, prickly acacia and cane toads.
Outcomes
- Advance a range of breakthrough control solutions that challenge traditional approaches to manage priority established pest animals and weeds to enable better outcomes.
- Deliver innovations that improve existing control methods or tools, as well as improved detection and monitoring methods.
- Further research into, and development of, new and enhanced ‘farm ready’ control tools to increase uptake and accessibility of these tools by farmers and land managers.
Successful projects - Advancing Pest Animal and Weed Control Solutions Competitive Grant Round
| Project detail | Lead recipient | Consortium partners | Up to value ($, GST exclusive) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diversification of weed management through cultural burning, utilising traditional knowledge to target herbicide resistance. | Balonne Shire Council | N/A | $744,746.31 |
| Weed managers guide to remote detection. Understanding opportunities and limitations of multi-resolution and multi-modal technologies for remote detection of weeds in heterogeneous landscapes. | Charles Sturt University | New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment Queensland University of Technology Local Land Services - Murray Local Land Services - North Coast Local Land Services - South East Mid Coast Council Eurobodalla Council Bega Valley Shire Council Illawarra District Weeds Authority XAG |
$589,525.00 |
| Developing new novel biopesticides for the control of fall armyworm. | CSIRO | N/A | $548,634.00 |
| Optimising the use of biological agents for the control of invasive cacti in Australia through a variety of integrated approaches. | Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries | N/A | $389,660.00 |
| Research into new aquatic herbicides to develop improved aquatic weed management tools. | Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries | N/A | $550,000.00 |
| Improving the efficiency of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus releases through testing two novel methods of virus delivery to rabbits. | Department of Regional New South Wales | South Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regions Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) |
$665,855.00 |
| Research and development into innovative grain refrigeration processes, to disrupt breeding of established grain pests in response to resistance to grain insecticides. | Graincorp Operations Limited | Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries | $740,661.00 |
| Applying environmental DNA (eDNA) methods for yellow crazy ant detection, a sensitive and less labour-intensive approach to invasive ant detection. | James Cook University | Invasive Species Council Inc. Townsville City Council |
$629,505.00 |
| Improvement of control methods for small hive beetles through novel trapping and bio attractant tool developments. | Macquarie University | N/A | $379,293.60 |
| Developing insecticide resistant beneficials for integrated pest management. | Macquarie University | New South Wales Department of Primary Industries | $974,848.30 |
| Development of a machine learning-based platform for fast invasive ant detection and recognition. | Murdoch University | Queensland Museum James Cook University CSIRO |
$791,882.00 |
| Non-toxic pest control tool for established fall armyworm (FAW) in Australia without the risk of resistance development. | Murdoch University | Advanced Transmission Systems Holdings Ltd | $446,050.40 |
| Weed genomics to advance lantana control, with lab-to-farm improvements in biotype identification and control agent matching tools. | Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust | Macquarie University Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries CSIRO Michael Day |
$392,803.29 |
| Autonomous machinery to replace herbicide for under-vine weed control. | The Australian Wine Research Institute Limited | Pernod Ricard Winemakers Pty Ltd | $669,850.00 |
| WeedOmics - development of a next generation molecular diagnostic testing platform to test for herbicide resistance. | The University of Melbourne | Grains Research and Development Corporation | $351,792.00 |
| Development of broadly applicable technologies essential for the future production of suppression gene drives to eliminate invasive pest populations of multiple vertebrate species, including fishes and the cane toad. | The University of Melbourne | N/A | $1,390,545.00 |
| Developing an intelligent sprayer with lidar for the detection and automated application of basal bark, soil-applied and foliar-applied herbicides to prickly acacia. | The University of Queensland | Desert Channels Queensland Inc Silvan Australia |
$438,501.00 |
| Developing targeted tillage weed control in row-cropping systems. | The University of Western Australia | The University of Sydney Precision Agronomics Australia AgMaster David Nowland Hydraulics Grains Research and Development Corporation Dalby Rural Supplies Facey Group Corrigin Farm Improvement Group |
$1,998,474.00 |
| Managing Ips grandicollis bark beetles through anti-aggregation pheromones, development of a new control tool. | University of the Sunshine Coast | HQ Plantations Pty Ltd Forestry Corporation of New South Wales National Sirex Coordination Committee Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries University of Georgia, USA |
$307,374.10 |
| Total | $13,000,000.00 |
Grant round overview
- The grant round opened on 4 August 2020 and closed on 25 September 2020.
- 197 eligible grant applications were received.
- Eligible applications targeted invasive established pest animals or weed species that were not endemic to Australia or a particular part of Australia and were led by an organisation/institution with a proven research and development capacity.
- Successful projects total $13 million with $12 million in additional cash or in-kind support that adds value to the delivery of the program.
Grant Opportunity Guidelines can be viewed below.
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