During the establishment of TSWRU, it was decided that research would be the
initial major activity. The research program has been developed to
undertake basic and applied research in the area of tropical and subtropical
weed science.
There are two main themes within this research program. The first is to develop
less synthetic chemical dependent methods of weed control. This is our
"Sustainable Weed Control Solutions" and involves the Centre for
Pesticide Application and Safety (CPAS), the Centre for Mined Land
Rehabilitation (CMLR) and the Agricultural Mechanisation Unit, all part of the
University of Queensland.
The second theme is in the area of weed dynamics, identification and
diagnostics. This is our "Assessing the Risks" program and
interfaces strongly in the activities of the Centre for Plant Architecture
Informatics (CPAI) using virtual plant-plant-environment interactions and the
Centre for Information Diagnostics for insects and Weeds (CID), both located at
the St Lucia UQ campus.
SUSTAINABLE WEED CONTROL SOLUTIONS
The "Sustainable weed Control Solutions" program has components at
both the Gatton and St Lucia Campuses. At the Gatton campus, research is
centred around natural weed control particularly using precision driven,
mechanical weed control systems and biocontrol using insects and
pathogens. At the St Lucia campus this program has emphasis on weed seed
biology, understanding seed dormancy mechanisms, seed bank assessment and
examining methods to kill or remove weed seeds from the seed bank.
