Number V1 [June 2024 – the date of publication in “Crop Protection“]
The Executive Committee of the Governing Board of IAPPS is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Shoki Al-Dobai as The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Representative.
DR SHOKI AL-DOBAI JOINS IAPPS GOVERNING BOARD AS FAO REPRESENTATIVE
Dr. Al-Dobai is an entomologist with over 20 years of work experience in plant pest management, including biological control, pesticide management and phytosanitary measures. Since June 2019, he has been working as a Senior Agricultural Officer and Team Leader of the Locusts and Transboundary Plant Pests and Diseases at the Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome. He supervises and coordinates the FAO plant health emergency prevention system, including the global locusts and other transboundary plant pests and diseases monitoring and early warning systems, and FAO’s emergency response programs to the plant pest crises.
From 2011-2017, he worked as a Regional Crop Protection Officer at the FAO Regional Office for the Near East & North Africa Region in Cairo, Egypt, and from 2017-2019 as the Integration & Support Team Leader of the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) at FAO HQs in Rome.
Please join me in welcoming Shoki to the IAPPS GB and family. He takes over from Buyung Hadi, whom I want to thank for his precious contributions to IAPPS and for promoting sustainable plant protection globally.
Prof. E. A. “Short” Heinrichs
Secretary General, IAPPS
E-mail: [email protected]
THE GLOBAL PLANT PROTECTION NEWS (GPPN)
The Global Plant Protection News (GPPN) https://iapps2010.wordpress.com posted on the WordPress platform is a free service by the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences (IAPPS). It is sent via email to subscribers and posted on the IAPPS website www.plantprotection.org This online service provides IAPPS members and other visitors to our site with recent news articles regarding topics of relevance to plant protection and includes articles of interest to all plant protection disciplines. You can access recent postings or browse for articles here according to the categories list.
Established in 2011, to date 2,900 articles have been posted and there are 2,017 total subscribers.
The top ten countries, in terms of the number of views to date in 2024, are as follows:
Country Views
USA 1,738
Taiwan 545
Philippines 214
United Kingdom 138
Mexico 118
Canada 99
Australia 97
Germany 95
France 93
The most popular posts from 2011 to 2024 are as follows:
- New website for seed identification 17,161
- Florida USA: An invasive thrips species has started to raise havoc 4,799
- Cassava-based pesticide 3,089
- Plantix app for plant pest and disease identification 2,091
- Tanzania: Papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus) invasion 1,899
- Rats in Philippine rice 1,636
- Philippines: Cecid fly infestation threatens the nation’s mango yield 1,421
- Crop Protection journal impact factor increases 1,372
- Weed management with robotics and AI 1,217
- IAPPS Newsletter 1,192
Prof. E. A. “Short” Heinrichs
Secretary General, IAPPS
E-mail: [email protected]
SEED HARMONISING DIALOGUE FOR SADC, COMESA AND EAC
The Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) together with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the World Bank, organized a high-level regional seed policy dialogue and learning tour that was held in Lusaka, Zambia from 21 to 23 February 2024. The main objective of this event was to bring together stakeholders from Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and East African Community (EAC) regions and beyond (Ghana, Mali, Ivory Coast) to discuss and share experiences on seed policies, regulations, and best practices.
The event also focused on tracking the performance of the seed sector at country level, with the goal of identifying challenges, opportunities, and strategies for improvement. Empirical studies show that African countries are at different stages of harmonizing their seed policies and regulations despite benefiting from various donor-supported projects and technical assistance programs. To accelerate the implementation of seed policies, CCARDESA, AGRA and the World Bank noted the importance of a cross-country learning initiative. Therefore, this regional seed policy dialogue and learning tour aimed at providing an opportunity to share emerging good practices, the enabling environment for seed supply, mapping of different initiatives that can help bridge identified gaps at both country and regional levels to improve seed supply and food security in the region.
The meeting was attended by policy makers i.e. relevant ministers and permanent secretaries, directors of research institutions, and scientists.
Dr. Diana Earnshaw
IAPPS coordinator for Region VI: Southern Africa
E-mail: [email protected]
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 the world’s crop and forest ecosystems.
Membership Information: IAPPS has four classes of membership (individual, affiliate, associate, and corporate) which are described in the IAPPS Web Site
The IAPPS Newsletter welcomes news, letters, and other items of interest from individuals and organizations. Address correspondence and information to:
Manuele Tamò
Editor, IAPPS Newsletter
IITA-Benin [08 B.P. 0932 Tri Postal, Cotonou, Republic of Benin]
E-mail: [email protected]
