INDIAN PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL SOCIETY PLANS SYMPOSIUM ON TRADE HARMONISATION ISSUES
The Indian Phytopathological Society (IPS) is organising their 54th Annual Business Meeting at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, Kerala between 22 _ 25 January, 2002. At the same time a national symposium on" Crop Protection and the World Trade Organization (WTO)" is also planned that may have concurrent sessions depending on the response of the participants.
Indian agricultural exports, and in particular the high value plantation exports, are facing hardship due to several clauses of the WTO that are not that friendly to the developing nations. Also information on the quarantine practices and restrictions of the importing nation are not well publicised, leading to rejection of consignments. The SPS (pertaining to quarantine standards for sanitary and phytosanitary) measures of both India and that of the globe need to be properly harmonised.
Keeping these in focus the IPS is planning to organise this meeting and keep the SPS as transparent as possible. We request that you participate in the meeting and give us the benefit of your rich experience.
For further details on the topic, location of Kasaragod , travel arrangements and accommodations contact:
Dr.(Mrs.) Rohini Iyer,
Hea, Plant Protection Sciences, CPCRI
Kasaragod, Kerala, India
email: ipscpcri@yahoo.co.in
INTERNATIONAL ADVANCES IN PESTICIDE APPLICATION MEETING
There will be an International Advances in Pesticide Application meeting organised by the Association of Applied Biologists from January 7_9, 2002. It will be held at the University of Surrey, Guildford. The papers will cover new developments of equipment and cover agricultural and amenity areas of application. Further details may be obtained from: carol.aab@hri.ac.uk.
THE BCPC CONFERENCE _ WEEDS 2001 AND CONCURRENT MEETINGS
The BBPC Conference - Weeds will be held at Brighton 12_15 November, 2001. The Conference events will include a Symposium on The World's Worst Weeds (on Monday, 12 November) a Marketing Seminar on Distribution, its Role in Agrochemical Marketing; the Bawden Memorial Lecture entitled Food for Thought, concerning sustainable food production for the increasing growing world population, to be given by Prof Chris Leaver (Oxford University); crop protection trade services exhibition; scientific and educational exhibition; and many platform and poster sessions on advances in the technologies and practices of weed management. Details from: www.bcpc.org
Two other international conferences, with separate registrations, will run
concurrently with the above conference, at Brighton. PESTICIDE BEHAVIOR IN
SOILS AND WATER, 13_15 November, organised by BCPC, details from
www.bcpc.org. CROP PROTECTION IN CHINA, 12 November, organised by the Crop
Protection Group of the SCI, details from www.sci.mond.org
INVASIVE SPECIES: INTERNATIONAL SEARCH FOR BIOCONTROL AGENTS
Invasive species are generally recognized as alien (non-native) species to a specific ecosystem that can cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. They can be plants, animals, microbes, or other entities and are generally introduced by human actions. Years ago a number of alien species were deliberately imported, not realizing how they would behave in a different ecosystem. More recently these invasive species have usually come in accidentally. With the increase in international trade and commerce, the number of alien species entering and becoming established is growing every year.
Although pesticides are useful in containing invasive species in concentrated areas or reducing populations over a larger area, the only proven, sustainable technology to deal long-term with the problem is biocontrol, the deliberate use of one living organism to control another. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has active research abroad as well as stateside to research parasites, predators and pathogens of invasive pests of agriculture in the U.S. By one estimate, these pests cost about $46 billion annually in losses and control, not counting ecological damage and harm to wildlife.
Scientists at the European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL), located at Montpellier, France, routinely travel to pests' point of origin, such as Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans, and Asia, to collect natural enemies. Typically, they'll explore sites where the crops, climate or habitat matches a particular U.S. region where a pest has become established and a biocontrol agent is needed. EBCL contains a quarantine lab with three self-contained greenhouses where the natural enemies of pests that scientists have collected can be reared, tested, packaged, and shipped stateside for use in classical biocontrol programs. The scientists must characterize the identity, biology, and host range of these potential biocontrol agents to make sure they're specific enough for introduction into the U.S. without causing problems.
Once a parasite, predator, or pathogen has been deemed a worthwhile biocontrol candidate, EBCL scientists carefully package it for quarantined shipment to one of three ARS research quarantine facilities stateside. New arrivals must pass a stringent inspection before they're sent for field studies to EBCL's cooperators, which include other ARS labs, state agriculture departments, state land-grant universities, other USDA agencies (including the Forest Service) and non-USDA agencies in the Department of the Interior.
To date these research efforts have resulted in nearly 200 different biocontrol agents for use against at least 36 insect and weed species plaguing U.S. agriculture and natural habitats. One EBCL biocontrol success story is its research on seven parasites and one predator species from western Europe for control of alfalfa weevils. In the 1980s these biocontrols were released in the U.S. and resulted in $90 million in yearly savings.
Portions of this article were excerpted from "Agricultural Research," the April 2001 issue. For additional information visit the web site at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR (use upper case for AR).
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.
IAAPS 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.
The IAPPS Newsletter welcomes news, letters, and other items of interest from individuals and organizations. Address correspondence and information to:
Dr. Nancy N. Ragsdale, Editor
IAPPS Newsletter
ARS/USDA
5601 Sunnyside Ave.
Beltsville, MD 20705-5140 USA
E-mail: nnr@ars.usda.gov
