Decanter World Wine AwardsDowny mildew hits Australia
- Thursday 9 December 2010
Humid weather and heavy rainy has hit inland Australia, particularly in the Riverland and the Riverina regions, causing widespread downy mildew problems. Premium regions including the Barossa and Hunter Valley are now threatened.
The outbreak has been made worse by a shortage of chemicals to treat the diseases. Demand for the fungicide that eradicates downy mildew, Ridamil, has soared and chemical companies have been caught napping. Ashley Ratcliff of Yalumba says 'Large stocks are not available because these areas have been in drought for a lot of years and there was little demand. The chemical companies are now madly trying to keep up with demand.'
Liz Singh of Murray Valley Winegrowers which represents 1000 growers in the region says, 'I've heard from the rural council that some growers have lost their whole crop while others just a few spots.'
'It's the last thing that growers needed. A lot of them have been hanging on for a number of years so we will probably see them drop out of the industry.'
Bruce Chalmers, a viticulturist based in Merbein near Mildura added: 'It's a massive problem in Sunraysia, the Riverland and MIA. It's going to have a big effect on yields.'
pic: Weekly Times Now
Have your say!
David T.
August 19 21:19
Almost certainly too late for last year - but as this has popped up as a link to a recent story, and someone might find this useful: spraying crops with 1:9 milk:water every 4-5 days reduces/prevents downy mildew. Hopefully some smaller producers will make use of this!
Gavin Monery
August 19 12:32
Chris - Organic and Biodynamic producers can only treat pre-emptively with Copper sprays. Systemic post infection fungicides can't be used.
Organic producers need to pay extra attention to weather conditions and have a well-managed canopy in order to mitigate the worst effects.
Stuart George
December 15 15:39
I was in South Australia last week and, yes, there was a lot of rain but it dried out quickly and there was little, if any, downy mildew.
Oh, and England beat Australia at the Adelaide Oval!
Chris Townend
December 13 13:29
It would be interesting to know if any bio-dynamic and/or organic vineyards have been hit, and how they are tackling the problem.