Researchers are working to identify insect specific viruses that could be developed into environmentally safe biopesticides that could replace insecticides.
The viruses are seen as a potential way of controlling notorious pests like canegrubs and soldier flies and protect Australia's $4 billion sugar industry.
The Australian sugar industry generates around $1.7 billion in export earnings for Australia each year and supports 23,000 jobs.
However, Dr Kayvan Etebari from the University of Queensland's School of the Environment said 20 to 40 per cent of industry losses were because of pests and diseases.
"We want to turn the tables on some of the nastiest sugarcane pests utilising Queensland's very best genomic science," Dr Etebari said
The team is sequencing the genetic information, the transcriptomes, in cells of two significant pests, canegrubs and sugarcane soldier flies.
The aim is to determine what viruses the pests may harbour and then exploring how those viruses can be used.
Preliminary data is promising, with the team having already identified several new viruses.
Dr Etebari said virus-based biopesticides had been safely used in agriculture for several decades.
"Canegrubs are the most significant root-feeding pest, causing significant yield losses in Australia's most productive sugarcane regions and farmers currently rely on a single insecticide, imidacloprid, which is currently under review here," he said.
"With restrictions on the use of this insecticide a possibility in the future, there is an urgent need to develop alternative, environmentally friendly control agents.
"Our research may lead to a genuinely sustainable control strategy with none of the damaging environmental impacts of the current pesticide."
Dr Etebari said soldier flies also cause losses in some areas, and there were currently no effective control agents for them.
"Innovative ways of using naturally occurring insect-specific pathogens as biopesticides will benefit industry growth, create economic gains for farmers and greatly reduce the environmental risks of pest management," he said.
This project is funded by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and Sugar Research Australia.
