Other vegetables

Other Vegetables – an overview:

This page provides an overview of the key pests and diseases of beans, peas, artichoke, and sweet corn vegetables in Australia. The related tools at the end of the page can be used by growers and crop consultants to assist in the identification of insect pests, mites, diseases, beneficials, and disorders. They include photographs and detailed information about specific pests. For unknown pests, it is important to have an expert identify them so that they can be managed appropriately.

Key pests of Other vegetables

Crop	Type	Insect pests	Diseases
Beans		Bean fly; Bean looper; Aphids; Leafhoppers; Mites; Weevils; Caterpillars; Cutworms; Loopers; Flea beetles;Rutherglen bug; Whiteflies; Thrips.	Nematodes; Anthracnose; Aphanomyces root rot; Ashy stem blight; Bacterial brown spot; Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV); Summer death; Yellow bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV); Black root rot;Common bacterial blight; Sclerotinia rot; Damping-off; Fusarium root rot; Pod twist; Red root complex; Rhizoctonia rot; Rust.
Artichoke		Two-spotted mites; Aphids.	Nematodes; Fusarium wilt.
Sweet corn		Heliothis caterpillar; White-collared ladybird; Corn earworm; Aphids; Mites; Thrips.	Bacterial leaf streak; Fusarium cob rot; Johnson grass mosaic virus; Common rust; Turcicum leaf blight; Root-lesion nematodes.
Peas	Garden peas	Mites; Aphids.	Bacterial blight; Subterranean clover stunt virus; Black root rot; Ascochyta blight; Fusarium root rot.
Peas	Sugar snap peas and snow peas	Onion thrips; Heliothis Caterpillars; Mites; Aphids; Thrips.	Downy mildew; Powdery mildew; Fusarium root rot; Black root rot.

Pest management

Use a combination of chemical, cultural, and biological strategies to keep weeds, insect pests, mites, diseases, and other crop production problems low enough to minimise economic crop loss. The following management strategies are recommended to prevent diseases in vegetables included in Other Vegetables.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM):

IPM methods discourage the use of broad-spectrum chemical pesticides and instead recommend growers employ a combination of plant protection strategies, such as best-farm hygiene, biological controls, and a targeted application of selective chemicals.

Regular surveillance of crops:

is an effective way of monitoring the presence of beneficial insects – such as natural predators – within the crop and can help determine that an IPM program is working effectively.

Insect pests:

Frequent scouting for insects pests; timely release of biological controls (beneficial insects) in protected cropping environments; trap crop planting, designed to attract pests away from the commercial crop, while potentially being a breeding ground for beneficial insects.

Biological methods:

Conservation of naturally occurring parasitoids and predators is important as they along with pathogens and some insecticides can be used to manage helicoverpa (Heliothis) as well as other insect pests. Beneficials should be encouraged and used. Parasitoids; predatory wasps such as Trichogramma pretiosum and Telenomus; spiders; lacewings; damsel bugs; and ladybird beetles may feed on moth eggs and caterpillars and may also provide some relief against aphids and thrips. Learn about beneficials that help control the insect pests most common on your farm.

Weed management:

Weed control is very important for pest management in beans. Basic preparation of the land is needed to allow existing weeds to be buried or killed; use of herbicides (both pre-emergent and post-emergent) to control weeds in beans. Use IPM strategies for pest management.

Chemical control:

Pests can be controlled with an appropriately registered chemical. The APVMA maintains a database of all chemicals registered for the control of pests in Australia. However, chemical users must ensure they read and understand all sections of the chemical label prior to use and use chemicals with care as chemicals can have a long residual effect and can damage subsequent crops, such as beans. Ensure you meet the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for the chemical in the end market, be it domestic or export.