Investment

Invasive pest molluscs are intractable pests for Australian grain farmers. Management of snail or slug infestations on farms with existing controls does not eliminate crop yield and value losses, high management costs, and market risks. Slugs damage crops by their feeding. Snails feed on crops but also infest harvested grain, which has wider flow-on effects. Opportunity costs (for example, growers planting crops other than canola to avoid losses from molluscs; infested grain is diverted to less lucrative markets) are not well-accounted for in our understanding of the full economic impacts of these pests. Conical snails have emerged as the major concern due to their cryptic habits and difficulty with control. Recent research investment has focused on molluscicidal control. It has been more than 20 years since engineering, cultural practices and other technological solutions for snail control have been assessed holistically despite significant changes in farming practices and technology. Growers need new tools as part of a systems approach for mollusc management. This investment will develop an integrated package of new biological knowledge, surveillance, and control methods, which will become tools to assist farmers to better manage molluscs on farm. The investment focuses on four species of Mediterranean pest snails and includes a range of inter-related activities that directly address priority areas. The range of activities is designed to provide immediate management omes for growers, including new tools and technologies, supported by underpinning biological data to inform control.