A million hectares of apple trees in China, and a million hectares of pine forest in Australia, have been saved from insect pests by humble nematode worms.

Using different species of nematodes, Dr Robin Bedding of CSIRO Entomology has developed new methods of controlling insect pests in pine plantations, bananas, currants, apple orchards and glasshouses, without the need for chemicals.

Dr Bedding has been awarded the 1997 Sir Ian McLennan Award for Industry, for his work in the use of nematode biopesticides.

"Robin Bedding's pioneering work with nematodes has already had a very significant practical outcome," says CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Malcolm McIntosh. "Savings to the pine forest industry using 'the Bedding Method' in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are estimated to average more than $50 million per year.

"International sales of the Bedding nematode technology are also increasing, as the Sirex wasp - the scourge of pine plantations - is spreading rapidly. Forest managers from Brazil, Chile and South Africa are using Dr Bedding's control methods," says Dr McIntosh.

In China, a different species of nematode is being used to control a fruit boring moth (Carposina), the most important pest of China's million hectares of apple orchards and borers that kill five percent of northern China's shade trees in a joint project with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

"Like microscopic missiles, the worms seek out their insect targets which are concealed in the interior of the trunks, plant stems or within the soil, safe from most predators or poisons. Using nematodes to control the pests also offers no threat to other, non-target, organisms, and leaves no chemical or polluting residues," says Dr McIntosh.

Developing nematodes for use as biopesticides has involved two distinct areas of research.

"Dr Bedding and his team have in the first place identified specific nematode species which have a particular relationship with insect species," said Dr McIntosh. "The interaction between the worm and the insect may also take many different forms; in the case of the pine forest wasp Sirex, for example, nematode infection of the wasps is spread through a wood-rotting fungus which the wasp itself uses as it lays its eggs. Other insects, such as fungus gnats and weevils, may be attacked directly by nematodes infesting the insects' bodies.

"It is also critically important that the strain of nematode, released to control an insect, retains its original characteristics and remains effective. This involves continuous monitoring and laboratory testing.

"The second aspect of the research is to develop a practical means of using the worms in the field. Dr Bedding's team have developed large-scale methods to mass-produce the worms, store them in dried form, and transport them to the target areas in Australia or overseas. Special technologies for the nematode application have also been developed."

The nematode (Deladenus siricidicola) used for control of the Sirex wasp has been renamed Beddingia siricidicola in Dr Bedding's honour.

The Sir Ian McLennan Achievement for Industry Award will be presented to Dr Robin Bedding at 12.30, Tuesday 11 November, at The Windsor Hotel, Melbourne, by the Hon. Mark Birrell, Victorian Minister for Industry, Science and Technology.

More information: Jane Kahler (Melbourne) 0417 299 586
Nick Goldie (Canberra) 02-6276 6478
Dr Robin Bedding (from Wed) 02-6246 4292
Windsor media room (Tue) 03-9633 6200