The Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative (AHRI) researches solutions to minimise the adverse impact herbicide resistance and crop weeds have on Australian cropping.
Research activities include the biology and population ecology of major weed species through to cultural and herbicide management strategies. Fundamental research occurs on biochemical and molecular resistance mechanisms as well as genetically modified crop issues.
AHRI is responsible for a broad range of projects with investment from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).
GRDC investments are:
AHRI’s projects fall under the following themes:
Ongoing herbicide sustainability is essential in Australian cropping. Incoming Research Fellow Dr William Kramer will lead the herbicide technology and weed resistance evolution program at AHRI with assistance from Dr Danica Goggin. This program is focused on characterising new cases of resistance, assessing the risk of herbicide resistance in new, yet-to-be-released herbicides and developing recommendations for herbicide-based weed management.
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This research program investigates how crop weeds modify the herbicides that they encounter, and assesses whether this can lead to metabolic herbicide resistance.
The Herbicide Resistance Mechanisms team is led by Dr Danica Goggin.
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Understanding the biochemical and molecular basis of resistance commences with identifying whether resistance is due to changes at the herbicide enzyme target site (target site resistance) or due to changes elsewhere in the plant (non-target site resistance). The focus is on investigating mechanisms of resistance in current and new herbicide-resistant weed biotypes to gain fundamental insights into the resistance mechanisms and evolution.
The team is led by Research Associate Dr Heping Han.
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Combining field and laboratory trials, the agronomy team investigates farming system strategies to enhance weed-competitiveness of crops. They investigate the biology and ecology of common crop-weed species and the ability of these species to adapt to changes in herbicide use and competition from broadacre crops.
The agronomy team is led by Dr Mike Ashworth with support from Technician, Shane Baxter.
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Weed Integrated Management (WIM) is a user-friendly decision support software. It allows farmers and advisors to evaluate the long-term profitability of strategic and tactical weed control methods in broadacre crops at the paddock scale.
There are a number of versions to cater for the major weeds, including annual ryegrass, brome grass, barnyard grass, and wild oat.
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Surveying and monitoring levels of weed infestation and herbicide resistance in Western Australian cropping regions helps inform sustainable herbicide use.
Dr Mechelle Owen has conducted surveys in the WA wheatbelt over the last 20 years to determine the frequency and extent of herbicide resistance in crop weeds.
For detailed survey information on individual Western Australian cropping zones, check out our interactive weed resistance map.
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Don't waste money on herbicides that don't work. Improve efficiency and profitability in your cropping system by establishing whether your weeds have resistance to one or multiple herbicides. The UWA Resistance Testing program will test your weeds for standalone herbicides and mixtures. For enquiries on resistance tests please contact Ci Sun (ci.sun@uwa.edu.au)
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