Australian insectary industry and its current status

                           

Australian Insectary Industry and Its Current Status

Begum M., P. Ampt and S. Mansfield

Faculty of Agriculture and Environment; The University of Sydney, NSW 2015, Australia

This study reports on the first part of an on-going study to investigate why the Australian commercial insectary industry has not expanded to the same extent as in other countries and consequently why augmentative biological control has not fulfilled its potential in Australia. There are presently only 9 insectaries producing insects for augmentative biological control in Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and thematically analysed with all of the insectary owners during 2011. Just one new insectary had been established since 2001. Seven commercial insectaries produced 30 species of biological control agents and supplied mainly to the horticulture industry. Most produced only 1-3 agents and primarily focused on one crop. Phytoseiulus persimilis is the leading biological control agent based on the number of established insectaries whereas Neoseiulus cucumeris is the leading biological control agent based on the volume of production. In 2011 the industry employed 49 full-time and 7 part-time people and served approximately 4500 farmers and other consumers. Gross sales were $5.5-7.1 million dollars per year. The major barriers to the expansion of this industry were reported as logistics, interstate quarantine and insectary set-up costs. Insecticide resistance was the main reason given for growers to switch from chemical-focused to integrated pest management (IPM). For the industry to fulfil its potential, insectary owners believed that the public education was needed about IPM starting at school and they supported introducing government legislation to reduce the use of chemical pesticides. The remainder of the study involves citrus farmer and researcher surveys and analysis.