06 April 2026, AU: Growers can access the most up-to-date, integrated advice and tools to help ensure fungicide applications are effective, sustainable and make economic sense.
The crop protection benefits of fungicides are integral to the profitability of the grains sector. However, the benefits are only possible with careful stewardship to avoid the emergence of fungicide resistance. Fungicide resistance considerations – combined with insights from ongoing research into economic spray decisions – are fundamental to understanding fungicide application decisions.
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State-of-the-art information about chemical sustainability can help manage the risk and increase profitability. GRDC has invested heavily to achieve this.
Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network
One investment was the establishment of an extension network that developed and delivered integrated and regionally specific support resources for managing fungicide resistance.
The Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN), established in 2019 and concluded late 2025, brought together regional plant pathologists and fungicide resistance experts. They teamed up with communication specialists to raise awareness of fungicide resistance and provide practical management strategies.
Through engagement and the provision of extension resources, AFREN empowered growers with integrated approaches to manage disease pressure and implement strategic fungicide use.
Connecting and accessing resources
The AFREN website still provides access to a suite of resources to aid growers in fungicide resistance management decisions. Included are:
the Fungicide resistance management in Australian crops guide
advice and educational resources
blogs
case studies
cereal pathogen information
fact sheets
podcasts
videos
webinars
links to other important online resources.
While the AFREN project is now complete, the expertise and resources it produced will continue to expand within a new 5-year GRDC extension investment that commences in 2026. The Disease Management Extension Network will continue to assist grain growers to improve profitability through fungicide resistance advice on best practice.
Keeping track of fungicide resistance
The way growers are informed about fungicide resistance in their regions is being modernised. Especially noteworthy is the use of software that allows geospatial mapping of resistance incidence data across Australia as it becomes available.
The Pesticide Resistance Integrated Mapping (PRIM) tool was developed by the Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM) at Curtin University in collaboration with geospatial technology company NGIS. GRDC invested in this technology through a major investment in the Analytics for the Australian Grains Industry.
By providing growers with information about fungicide resistance risk in their area, users can proactively mitigate the risk with appropriate management practices and informed decisions – significantly, to spray or not to spray, and what to spray.
The scientific data for PRIM comes directly from research surveys conducted across Australia’s major grain-growing regions. CCDM accepts samples for fungicide resistance testing as part of its fungicide resistance monitoring and characterisation project. The samples are then analysed using innovative technology developed for improved detection of resistance mutations.
Included is genotyping technology that can detect fungicide resistance mutations before any observations in the field. When this data is integrated into PRIM, it can inform growers of the risk.
PRIM provides spatial information for fungicide resistance in 4 major diseases of wheat and barley. Ongoing work is widening the range of diseases and crops to be included in the geospatial maps.
Decision support tools
GRDC and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development in Western Australia – along with other state departments, universities and private companies – have also invested in complementary decision support tools. These were created to identify the most effective and financially viable disease control strategies against various fungal diseases in cereals, oilseeds and pulses. The tools were developed using comprehensive national experimental data and insights from experts in the field.
Tools include fungicide resistance management information developed by AFREN and can provide warnings to the user when fungicide groups are not being rotated or used too frequently within a season.
Users can input their paddock specifications into an app-based decision support tool, which customises the output to on-farm conditions. The apps then evaluate the probable, optimal and worst-case outcomes in terms of yield responses and economic returns.
These digital decision support tools are available for download from the App Store and Google Play on Apple and Android devices. They include:
the BlacklegCM app for blackleg crown canker management in canola, which provides the latest resistance ratings for all current canola varieties and allows users to compare different fungicide options
the UCI BlacklegCM app for blackleg upper-canopy infection management in canola, which considers costs, yield benefits, grain price and seasonal conditions when comparing best case, worst case and most likely estimates of financial returns from different management options
the SclerotiniaCM app for Sclerotinia stem rot management in canola, in which the user can specify individual paddock data as well as recent and expected weather conditions to determine the likely Sclerotinia severity, yield loss and economic return from no fungicide application versus single or multiple foliar fungicide application
the PowderyMildewMBM app for powdery mildew management in mungbeans, which considers that this disease is highly influenced by seasonal conditions and will give growers and consultants confidence in decisions about whether to invest in spraying
the StripeRustWM app for stripe rust management in wheat crops, which assesses the probable disease severity, yield loss and economic return across various fungicide strategies, factoring in level of varietal resistance, costs, grain prices and the prevailing seasonal conditions
the YellowSpotWM app for yellow spot (tan spot) management in wheat, which accounts for the major factors that influence yellow leaf spot severity. The user can specify factors relating to paddock selection, variety, seasonal conditions, prices and management options
the NetBlotchBM app for net blotches (spot form and net form) management in barley, which has been calibrated for use in all barley production areas in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in collaboration with expert plant pathologists in all of these states.
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