Expansive fields of flowering white daisies are sure to catch your eye if you’re driving through north-west Tasmanian during the summer months, but do you know what the plant is grown for?
Tasmania is the world’s largest supplier of pyrethrin, a natural plant-based insecticide found in the dried flower heads of the pyrethrum plant. The coastline around northern Tasmania is covered with white flowers during summer and it’s an important and lucrative crop for the region.
Pooja Poosarla is a PhD candidate at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) and while she hadn’t seen a pyrethrum plant before arriving in north-west Tasmania, she was excited about the opportunity to work on an agricultural science project that blended laboratory and field work.
