Life Sciences Commons^™

Eradicating Fruit Fly From Carnarvon, Kingsley Thomas Fisher

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Late last year the Mediteranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata Weidemann) was eradicated from Canarvon, Western Australia by using an intergrated programme of sterile insect releases and bait spraying.

The eradication marked the end of a four-year study on the use and effectiveness of the Sterile Insect Technique, a biological control technique which uses an insect pest against itself. such a study can be used as a basis for treating other threatening insect pests, such as the serious cattle pest screw-worm fly, should they be found in Asustralia.

Being a biological control method, the Sterile Insect Technique is an exellent …

A Survey Of Drench Resistance In Sheep Worms, J R. Edwards, R. Wroth, G. C. De Chaneet, R. B. Besier, J. Karlsson, P. W. Morcombe, D. Roberts, G. Dalton-Morgan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sheep worms which are resistant to chemical drenches have been detected with increasing freuency is Western Australia's south-western farming areas between 977 and 1980. These worms have anthelmintic resistance and such genetis resistance puts essential internal parasite control practices at risk.

This prompted veterinarians in the Esperance, Albany, Bunbury, Geraldton and Northam areas to survey farms to determine the prevalence of resistance to drenches and to define those sheep management practices which encourage its development.

This article describes the survey which was conducted to assess the extent of drench resistance, what causes its build-up and how it can be controlled …

The Economic Potential Of Cashmere Production, A T. Kelly

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Although the cashmere industry has developed rapidly in eastern Australia, development in Western Australia has lagged behind because of local restrictions on the use of feral goats. However, recently the Agricultural Protection Board has eased these restrictions.

In Western Australia there are about 30 to 40 producers with commercial cashmere flocks, involving a total of 7,500 to 10,000 goeats. In most agricultural areas where sheep production occurs, cashmere production is also possible.

In the following article, A. T. Kelly, an adviser with the Marketing and Economics Branch, discusses the economic potential of cashmere production in this State and compares …

Interceptor Drains And Waterlogging Control, J W. Cox, T R. Negus

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Department of Agriculture trials of seepage interceptor drains from 1972 to 1983 primarily assessed the effects of such drains on salt encroachment. Although these trials showed that the drains had little influence on salt storage within the topsoil, they did reduce waterlogging downslope.

To investigate this drainage effect further, the Department's Narrogin office surveyed 35 drains on 14 properties in the winter of 1981, followed by detailed crop measurements in December that year. Provided the drains were properly designed, surveyed and constructed, and well maintained, they could be expected to increase crop yields during a waterlogging year by about 1 …

Farm Debt In The Wheatbelt : 1984 Survey Results, R S. Kingwell

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In recent years many farms in Western Australia's wheat-growing areas have experienced adverse seasons. For example, the 1983-84 season was characterised by a late start, dry spring and wet harvest which resulted in many farms suffering a combination of low yields and the downgrading or dockage of their grain.

Poor seasons and poor profitability prospects for wheat-growing caused some concern about farm indebtedness in these areas.

In late 1983, a Parlimentary select committee was appointed to inquire into rural hardship. The State Minister for Agriculture also announced that the Department of Agriculture would conduct a farm survey to determine the …