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Biocontrol News and Information
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December 1999, Volume 20 No. 4
- General News
- Training News
- Internet Round-Up
- Conference Reports
- Announcements
Announcements
Are you producing a newsletter, holding a meeting, running an organization or rearing a natural enemy that you want other biocontrol workers to know about? Send us the details and we will announce it in BNI.
Arthropod Pathogen Germplasm Centre at ICIPE
The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) based in Nairobi, Kenya, conducts mission-oriented research on sustainable strategies for the management of arthropod plant pests and disease vectors. As part of its on-going research activities, ICIPE has recently established a Germplasm Centre to act as a repository of arthropod pathogens (fungi, bacteria and protozoa) for use against a wide range of target pests, including locusts and grasshoppers. These pathogens will be made available upon request to investigators in other institutions. The activities of the Centre include isolation, culture, identification, and preservation. Samples from Africa and elsewhere are welcome for inclusion in the collection.
Depositors will be asked to supply the following information:
- Scientific name of the microorganism (if known)
- Host source of isolation: order, family, genus, species (if known)
- Date of collection and date of isolation
- Collection location (town/province/state/country/climate)
- Depositor's reference number (if available)
- Name of isolator
- Address, telephone number and address of collector, isolator, or depositor
The project is funded by USAID's Africa Bureau and is managed and implemented by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (USA) with seven other consortium partners in Africa (Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA), Direction de la Protection des Végétaux (DPV/Senegal), Locustox (Senegal), International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE, Kenya)), the USA (ACDI/VOCA), and Europe (European Biological Control Laboratory (USDA/EBCL, France) and the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA, France)).
More information is available at:
http://www.icipe.org/germplasm/htm
or from the Director General, International Centre of Insect Physiology
and Ecology (ICIPE), PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya
Email: icipe@icipe.org
Fax: +254 2 860110/803360
or Jean Nguya K. Maniania
[email: nmaniania@icipe.org / Elisabeth
Ouna [email: eouna@icipe.org]
The Southern Cone Plant Protection Committee (Comité de Sanidad Vegetal del Cono Sur - COSAVE) is a Regional Plant Protection Organization (RPPO) established in 1989 within the framework of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), through an agreement among the governments of its member countries (Argentina , Brazil , Chile , Paraguay and Uruguay). One of the goals of COSAVE is to coordinate biological control activities within the region. In accordance with this, the Biological Control Permanent Working Group of COSAVE has determined priorities for pests to be targeted in order to speed the development of biocontrol technologies and has established a list of biological control agents used within countries of the region.
The Working Group first established the main pests for each COSAVE country and the biological control technologies currently available for them. A technical report has now been produced, which is organized as a series of tables, each of which deals with a crop important to three or more countries (23 crops in all). A preliminary list of the main pests for each crop has been drawn up; countries in which the pest is considered important are listed, together with the status of biological control for the pest in that country and biocontrol agents that either have been used or are under study. The list will be updated periodically.
More about COSAVE can now be accessed
on their website at:
http://www.cosave.org.py/baseing.htm
This site includes a wide range of information about the structure and
activities of the organization. Products available include standards and other
documents for public consultation, lists of quarantine pests for countries
of the region, pest data sheets, methods for risk analysis and pest diagnosis/identification,
and technical publications. A Phytosanitary Forum gives participants an opportunity
to discuss phytosanitary matters. There are also extensive links to organizations
and institutions within and beyond the region involved in plant protection
and risk analysis, and to other relevant web-based resources.
Contact: Elizabeth De Nardo, Quarantine
Laboratory, EMBRAPA,
Rodovia SP 340 km 127,5,
CEP 13820-000, Jaguariúna/SP, Brazil
Email: lqcl-l@cnpma.embrapa.br
Fax: +55 19 867 8740
IOBC Biocontrol Agent Rearing Website
The IOBC Global Working Group on Arthropod Mass Rearing and Quality Control (WGAMRQC) has now established a website (http://www.amrqc.org) to facilitate and advance cost-effective rearing of high-quality insects and other arthropods in support of biological control and integrated pest management.
The site includes a history of the Working Group, with summaries of its many workshops and assessments of its achievements over the years. There is a reference database for access to literature on insect rearing and quality control, plus quality control tests and standards, and quality control guidelines for more than 20 natural enemies.
On-line access to the IOBC WGAMRQC workshop proceedings is under construction. FRASS, the Insect Rearing Newsletter will also be available on-line in the near future. It contains a useful and eclectic mix of serious articles and lighthearted entertainment. There is also a listing of links to related websites.
Contact: Don Nordlund, Research
Leader, USDA, REE, ARS, MSA, Biological
Control and Mass Rearing Research Unit, PO Box 5367, Mississippi State,
MS 39762-5367, USA
Email: donn@ra.msstate.edu
Fax: +1 662 320 7571