Carpophilus beetle monitoring network - Registration form

Call for action!
The Almond Board of Australia is calling all almond growers to register by clicking the 'Next' button below to participate in an industry-wide monitoring network designed in partnership with Agriculture Victoria to monitor the almond carpophilus beetle (Carpophilus truncatus) in almonds.

In order to receive traps and data packs each grower will need to register their interest by filling in this form. After filling in this registration form a unique link will be provided. This link will help you record the details of where you place each trap and will be the mechanism to report and compare your catch data with other growers in the network.

This will be further explained in the ABA Webinar 15 November 2024, 11:30-12:30pm AEDT.

What’s involved?
There is no financial cost in taking part however there is a time commitment required. In accepting A&K traps, it is expected that you have the resources required to maintain the traps throughout one growing season and report the data each fortnight to the Almond Board of Australia.

A small number of traps will be made available to each farm based on size, level of damage, capacity to refresh traps and collect data, as well as the level of interest across the industry.

While the data will be required to be reported at a minimum of every two weeks there will be the ability to report weekly for those who want to. For those who are really keen live samples can be collected for further identification and analysis.

All data will remain confidential and will only be shared in aggregated form.

If at any point you can no longer commit to the maintenance and reporting, you can opt out of the monitoring program by letting the Almond Board of Australia know.

Instructions on how to maintain traps and collect data will be made available and explained in an ABA Webinar 15 November 2024, 11:30-12:30pm AEDT.

When will traps be delivered?
Traps will only be provided to those growers who have submitted a registration form as this generates the unique link required to enter data.

Once all the approvals are in place and the grower kits assembled the ABA will notify you of the number of traps available and organise a suitable delivery time and place. This is expected to commence later in November 2024.

Support?

The idea behind creating a monitoring network is that everyone learns together.

The catch data will be de-identified and aggregated. A dashboard will be accessible by those who submit their data to benchmark against others in the monitoring team. An online webinar will be scheduled during the season to look at the ‘catch’ data and understand beetle behaviour. This will also be a good opportunity for questions and answers.

If you are having difficulties or need to know more information, please feel free to reach out to one of the following ABA or AV team.

· Josh Fielke – 0408 031 991

· Peter Jealous – 0488 101 533

· Deidre Jaensch - 0429 007 200

· Samantha Edley - 0457 606 487

· David Madge – 0427 233 692

Why are we doing this?
The attract and kill (A&K) trap developed by Agriculture Victoria has been shown to specifically target the almond carpophilus beetle. Further information is needed to improve the trap and control technologies. Agriculture Victoria have funded the supply of traps to almond growers to assist in collecting beetle catch d