Managing soilborne diseases in Australian field crops using precision agriculture and soil DNA tests

Field studies have revealed that inocula of many of the soilborne diseases of cereals in southern Australia segregate between precision agriculture (PA) production zones. Inoculum levels differed between zones in 20 of 25 cases studied using satellite biomass imagery and in 8 of 23 using proximally -sensed data. Field experiments also demonstrated a correlation between soil inoculum at sowing and disease development. These findings have important implications for disease sampling and management. Inoculum in high yielding zones is potentially a greater risk to paddock profitability than that in low yielding zones constrained by other factors and could provide the basis for targeted application of control treatments.