IAPPS NEWSLETTER

Number XII      December, 2009

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE IPPC 2011

The organization of the 2011 International Plant Protection Congress (IPPC) has begun. The Organizing Committee has been selected and ideas for a theme and also for several symposia are being considered. Organizing Committee members are:

Bill Tweedy Chairman Plant Pathology, IPM Industry-Consultant for Albaugh, Inc. bgtweedy@aol.com E. A. "Short" Heinrichs IAPPS Secretary General Entomology, IPM University of Nebraska eheinric@vt.edu Ron Stinner Modeling NSF Center for IPM rstinner@cipm.info Baruch Rubin Weed Science Hebrew University of Jerusalem rubin@agri.huji.ac.il Dale Shaner Weed Science USDA ARS/University dale.shaner@ars.usda.gov Keith Jones Industry- Crop Life International keith@croplife.org Kelly Chamberlain Plant Pathology, Genetic Engineering USDA ARS/University kelly.chamberlain@ars.usda.gov Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon Coordinator SP-IPM IITA i.zeledon@cgiar.org Jenifer Huang McBeath Plant pathology University of Alaska Fairbanks ffjhm@uaf.edu

Geoff Norton IAPPS President Entomology, IPM University of Queensland g.norton@cbit.uq.edu.au Ray Martyn Plant pathology Purdue University rmartyn@purdue.edu R. Muniappan Program Director IPM CRSP ipm-dir@vt.edu Jim Bone Weed Science Industry-DuPont jim.bone@usa.dupont.com Alethia Brown Bio-organic Chemistry Industry- DuPont alethia.m.brown@usa.dupont.com John Burd Weed Science USDA ARS/University johnburd@ars.usda.gov Jenifer Huang McBeath Plant pathology University of Alaska Fairbanks ffjhm@uaf.edu

The Congress will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, August 6-10, 2011, jointly with the American Phytopathological Society. Mark this date on your calendar. For more information and full addresses of the members check www.plantprotection.org

Bill Tweedy
Chairman of the Organizing Committee
E-Mail: bgtweedy@aol.com

ON-FARM RESEARCH WEBCASTS HELP GROWERS MAKE SCIENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT DECISIONS

Extension specialists and agribusiness use on-farm research to make better management decisions. The On-Farm Research Conference, held at Iowa State University and recorded for online webcasting, can help many independent-minded growers develop research programs on their own farms to enhance the management and production of their crops. Project organizers designed the conference to provide basic information that helps growers complete, recognize, and understand scientifically sound crop production research; and it's their hope the new web resource will give growers and agriculture professionals another tool in farming decisions.

"Many growers and agribusinesses are inundated with data, which they use to make critical decisions about production practices," said Daren Mueller, Iowa State University extension specialist and lead organizer of the event. "We want them to be able to recognize and understand scientifically sound crop production research that will help promote wise crop production and protection decisions, which is an integral goal of integrated pest management."

The webcasts cover three main subject areas: the basics of on-farm research design, data collection methods, and ways to improve data quality. Speakers include faculty and extension staff from Iowa State University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Current presentation titles include:

• Planning an Experiment
• How to Improve Chances of a Successful Trial
• Tools for Conducting On-Farm Research
• Soil Fertility On-Farm Research Methods and Measurements
• Basics of Data Collection
• Managing Data in On-Farm Research
• Collecting Agronomic Production Data
• Methods for Collecting Plant Disease Data
• Collecting Insect Data
• Weather/Climate Information for Agricultural Research
• Economics and On-Farm Research
• Instrumentation, Sample, and Data Handling

All the presentations can be found on the Plant Management Network, a nonprofit online publisher of science-based agricultural and horticultural information. The presentations are specifically located at www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/onfarm.

The "Planning an Experiment" webcast is freely accessible for all. The other webcasts can be accessed by staff and students of the Plant Management Network's partnering universities and companies, and by current individual subscribers. Others must subscribe for an annual fee ranging from $38 to $45. Subscription provides unlimited access to all of the Plant Management Network's eleven online crop protection and production resources. To subscribe or learn more, visit www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/subscriptions.

"The site will allow people to learn what it takes to organize and conduct scientifically valid on-farm research," said Mueller.

The On-Farm Research Conference was funded jointly by the Iowa State University Corn and Soybean Initiative and the North Central Integrated Pest Management Center. For more information:

Phil Bogdan
The Plant Management Network
E-mail: pbogdan@scisoc.org

A PARASITOID TO TACKLE THE MENACE OF THE MEALYBUG PEST OF COTTON IN INDIA

The mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is a native of North America. It was first collected and described from New Mexico in 1897. In 1990, it was first reported as a pest of cotton in Texas. It remained in the U.S. until 1992 before moving into Central America, the Caribbean, and Ecuador. In 2002, it was reported in Chile and Brazil. Now it is known to occur in Ghana, Nigeria, Israel, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Thailand and China.

Since its introduction, it has been reported to cause havoc to the cotton crop in India, Pakistan and Israel. In 2008, all these countries contacted the California Department of Agriculture for possible collaboration in identification, collection, rearing and supply of natural enemies of this mealybug for classical biological control.

Meanwhile a parasitoid has been found to occur in India parasitizing P. solenopsis. Recently this parasitoid has been described as Aenasius bambawalei (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) by Dr. Mohammad Hayat, Aligarh Muslim University, India in the journal Biosytematica (2009) 3: 21-26. In addition, a hyperparasitoid, Promuscidea unfasciativentris Girault (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) was also found on A. bambawalei, which may cause some reduction in efficacy of this parasitoid.

Aenasius bambawalei is reported to parasitize about 60% of the mealybug population in the field and the scientists in India are very enthusiastic about finding this parasitoid and they think it is going to solve the menace caused by P. solenopsis to cotton crop.

R. Muniappan
Program Director
IPM CRSP
E-mail: ipm-dir@vt.edu

The IAPPS Newsletter is published by the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences and distributed in Crop Protection to members and other subscribers. Crop Protection, published by Elsevier, is the Official Journal of IAPPS. IAPPS Mission: to provide a global forum for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, integrating, and promoting plant protection concepts, technologies, and policies that are economically, environmentally, and socially acceptable. It seeks to provide a global umbrella for the plant protection sciences to facilitate and promote the application of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to a the world's crop and forest ecosystems. Membership Information: IAPPS has four classes of membership (individual, affiliate, associate, and corporate) which are described here. The IAPPS Newsletter welcomes news, letters, and other items of interest from individuals and organizations. Address correspondence and information to: Dr. Manuele Tamo, Editor IAPPS Newsletter Biological Control Center for Africa, IITA-Benin 08 B.P. 0932 Tri Postal, Cotonou, Republic of Benin E-mail: m.tamo@cgiar.org