TABLE CONTENTS

SESSION NINETEEN – BIOSECURITY, QUARANTINE AND NEMATODE
EMERGENCIES IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE
CONVENORS: SHASHI SHARMA & SUE HOCKLAND
SPONSORED BY CRC PLANT BIOSECURITY
Global Issues in Plant Biosecurity: Opportunities and Challenges for
Nematologists
Sharma, S.
Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, 3 Baron Hay Court, South Perth, WA 6150 Australia
‘Plant biosecurity’ refers to the safeguarding of plant resources from biological threats, in
particular exotic threats, in managed and natural ecosystems. It has emerged as a major
international issue directly influenced by an extraordinary increase in world trade and travel,
and concerns about the effects of climate change. The plant health status of virtually all
countries has become highly vulnerable to the invasion of potential biosecurity threats such
as the species of plant parasitic nematodes. Although the majority of plant parasitic nematode
species are soil-borne root feeders and are not normally spread via seed, fruit or flower
pathways, some nematode species have spread widely and successfully established across
continents, most probably via inadvertent transportation of nematode-infested soils. A study
in 2004 showed that more than 80% of dust and dirt samples taken from 341 shipping
container surfaces at New Zealand ports were infested with live nematodes. Predictive
bioclimatic modelling studies indicate that some of the highly pathogenic nematode species
such as the stem and bulb nematode, Ditylenchus dipsaci ‘giant race’ and the root-knot
nematode, Meloidogyne artiellia, have the potential to establish in more than 25 additional
countries. It is likely that unless concerted efforts are made to stop this seemingly unabated
international spread of harmful nematodes, susceptible plant species in different regions will
suffer significant damage particularly in those countries where farmers have sub-optimal
level of awareness of diseases caused by plant parasitic nematodes. There is a need for a
stocktake of plant health management strategies, policies, institutional arrangements and
systems in terms of facilities, capacity and capability to minimise the introduction,
establishment and spread of plant parasitic nematode. A global and shared approach to
nematode risk management will be discussed together with opportunities for nematologists to
contribute to biosecurity risk mitigation.
5 th International Congress of Nematology, 2008 71