NSW Department of Primary Industries Senior Plant Pathologist Dr Kevin Moore has been awarded the Lester Burgess Award for Diagnostics and Extension by the Australasian Plant Pathology Society Management Committee.
Dr Moore was presented with the award at the Science Protecting Plant Health conference in Brisbane late last month.
DPI Group Director Plant Systems Dr Alison Bowman said Dr Kevin Moore, based at the Tamworth Agricultural Institute, was a worthy recipient of the Lester Burgess Award.
The prize recognises exceptional contributions to the field of crop disease diagnostics and extension in vegetable crop health in Australasia.
“Dr Moore’s research knowledge, enthusiasm and dedication to plant pathology have been instrumental in establishing and growing the highly valuable NSW pulse industry,” Dr Bowman said.
“The outbreak of Ascochyta blight in chickpea crops nationally in 1998 had a devastating impact on production.
“Through Dr Moore’s tremendous efforts in rapidly developing integrated disease management strategies to assist growers in limiting losses to this disease the chickpea industry in northern NSW and southern Queensland expanded in the following seasons, whilst it declined in other states.
“Dr Moore has assisted with the disease management aspects for other pathogens such as Phytophthora, Botrytis and Sclerotinia in chickpeas and Leaf Rust in faba beans.”