Downsanup Down Underground News

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A Crop's Most Dangerous Enemies
by Samantha, Nicole, Katrina, Ashleigh, Caroline, Dean, Adam, Leah, Lisa, Daniel, Paul and Nic.

A Legumaniac's Mission
by Petra Pea and an anonymous helper

Death to the Pea Weevil
by Caroline Cameron

Pea Weevils Must Be Stopped!
by Nic

The EvilPea Weevil
by Leah and Lisa

Looming Locust Threat
by Courtney Bartley

A Crop's Most Dangerous Enemies

by Samantha, Nicole, Katrina, Ashleigh, Caroline, Dean, Adam, Leah, Lisa, Daniel, Paul and Nic

A famous frog once sang "It's Not Easy Being Green." The crops at Downsanup Downs know exactly what he means. As a crop you can be lush green and healthy one day, and full of holes from insect attack the next. Storms, hail and frost can end the dream of a bountiful harvest overnight - and there's more.

Wally Wheat and the gang at Downsanup Downs asked me to use my considerable skills as a researcher of doom, to compile a "Top Ten" list of "A Crop's Most Dangerous Enemies." My close friends at Surrey Downs Primary School have been helping me with my research and here is the list we've come up with.

1. Salinity
2. Red-legged earthmites
3. Sir Reginald Radish and his weed cronies
4. Hail, people, sheep, cattle or sheep dogs which break the tops off crop plants
5. Storms
6. Heavy rain
7. Aphids, locusts, pea-weevils and other insects
8. Drought
9. Poisonous chemicals
10. Unhealthy soil

A Legumaniac's Mission

by Petra Pea and an anonymous helper

The Evil Pea-Weevil haunts the life of pea crops everywhere, so I've embarked on a mission. My mission is to search the world for ways to overcome our sworn enemy. The first step in dealing with our enemy is to get to know it well. To this end I've asked Legumaniacs across Australia for their help. Caroline Cameron, Leah Williams, Lisa Iasiello, and Nic of Surrey Downs Primary School in South Australia have helped me understand the pea-weevil much better.

I was surprised to find that pea-weevils are not the only thing that people feel strongly about (but then again, not everyone in the world is a pea). Courtney Bartley sent us a report on the "Looming Locust Threat", and Nikita Koppe showed me that humans feel threatened by a creature I've never heard of before - it's called a "GST".

Thanks to all you budding journalists for making me a much better informed pea. Now dear readers, it's your turn to be educated by our "Legumaniacs on a Mission".

Death to the Pea Weevil

by Caroline Cameron

Every year, Australia's and the world's peas are under constant threat and attack by that most awful of pests, the pea weevil. It costs Australia's farmers up to $16 million a year to control pea weevils with chemical insecticides. The problem is a constant threat to the country's $100 million a year crop. And the pests pose an even greater danger in developing countries where storage conditions are not as good. If the weevils can get into a storage bin, then a whole crop might be wiped out six months later.

The pea weevil is a grey beetle, 3 to 5 mm long. The adults spend winter with the peas mainly in storage. The weevils come out when the peas are flowering, feeding on flowers, leaves or pods. They lay eggs on the outside of the pods. When it hatches in 1 to 3 weeks, the larva burrows through the pod and eats the pea.

The weevil can be destroyed through chemical sprays. Preferably, farmers should follow good farming practices such as providing clean, dry well-organised storage. Seeds can be heated to kill all stages of the weevil. Scientists at CSIRO have looked at introducing weevil-resistant genes into peas.

Whatever measures are taken, all pea lovers must be on the lookout for these dangerous pests.

Bibliography
Pea and bean weevil (http://cals.uvm.edu/ctr/el/el77.htm)
Pea weevil (http://www.laters.com/insects/peaweevi.htm)
Peas with in-built weevil resistance (http://www.csiro.au/news/mediarel/mrl1998/mr98128.html)

Pea Weevils Must Be Stopped!

by Nic

Hello there, I am Nic and I'm here to tell you about Pea Weevils. The scientific name for it is Bruchus pisorum. This is an evil dangerous pest to peas and other legumes. These creatures must be stopped. It doesn't look like a big problem to some people as all they see in the peas are holes but they are really pea weevil grubs that have burrowed in it to cause trouble. People overseas buy peas from Australia but expect no Pea Weevils and if they find one the whole lot is rejected since there could be more. This also means less money for hard working farmers.

The adult Pea Weevils are chunky creatures, which are about 5mm long. Once a pea or peas have been infected by a Pea Weevil value on it decreases and the chances of it being sold are very low since people wouldn't want to eat grub-infected food.

In the winter season the adults live in any place where they can shelter for a while. When temperature goes above 18° C or so they come out from the shelter to begin their horrible habit of infecting the peas.

So now that you know a bit about them, you should now see that they are a major pest and must be stopped.

The Evil Pea Weevil

by Leah and Lisa

The evil pea weevil has been going around eating all of the pollen out of the peas. The pea weevils are an enemy to many of the peas in Australia. If you can't kill all of the weevils then the whole crop could be eaten in 6 months.

The weevils are a grey beetle and the adult is about 5mm long. The adults spend winter with the peas in storage and then come out when the peas are flowering. They then feed on the flowers, pods or leaves. The adults lay their eggs on the outside of the pods and in 1-3 weeks it hatches and sends larva in to the pod for it to eat the peas.

The weevils can be killed through spaying them with chemical sprays. Farmers should really follow good farmers practises like providing good well organised storage. There are different types of weevils like pea and bean weevils.

Looming Locust Threat

by Courtney Bartley

Locusts are insects, identical to the Grasshopper. Locusts can be found constantly in the central parts of Queensland. Sometimes they can be found in the middle of Queensland and the higher parts of N.S.W.

Locusts can do a lot of damage to pastures in huge areas especially cereal crops and forage crops. Locusts have cost farmers several millions of dollars in damage to crops and pastures. In 1984, during a major outbreak of the Australian plague of Locusts, estimated crops loss was $5 million. Without control losses would have been $103 million.

Most outbreaks of Australian Locust plagues start in the states of south-west Queensland and next to areas of South Australia and New South Wales. Large Locust populations can develop following rainfall in this area. If the Locusts are not found soon enough the swarms may move into farming areas of New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria.

Locusts pass through three main stages of development from eggs, Nymph Hopper and adult stage.

Locusts have a pod at the lower part of the body. The female drills into the ground and lays a 'pod' of eggs that is sealed with froth. Locusts hatch from eggs as a wingless Nymphs.