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.

Whitefly Group Spreads Its Wings

Whiteflies are one of the most serious agricultural pests in most continents, dramatically reducing crop yields through direct feeding damage and transmission of plant viruses. In addition, increasing movement of plant material and produce between countries raises the risk of whiteflies and associated viruses spreading to new areas. The ready flow of information generated on global whitefly research, crop protection studies and growing practices is vital to combating these threats. In response to this, the European Whitefly Studies Network (EWSN) has gone global and become the International Whitefly Studies Network (IWSN).

The new IWSN newsletter, which replaces its EWSN predecessor, will continue to be edited by Ian Bedford, David Oliver and Liz Robertson. The first issue is out, and is available in print and on the IWSN website. The newsletter will adopt an international profile, reporting and disseminating whitefly-related information worldwide.

Contact: IWSN Office,
c/o John Innes Centre,
Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK.
Email: iwsn@whitefly.org
Fax: +44 1603 450045
IWSN website: www.whitefly.org

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Sunn Pest Conference

The Second International Conference on Sunn Pest will be held on 18-22 July 2004 at ICARDA (International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) in Aleppo, Syria, in collaboration with the University of Vermont. The theme will be, `Enhancing international cereal production capacity for food security.'

A major pest of wheat and barley, sunn pest accounts for annual yield losses of 20-30% for barley and 50-90% for wheat in central and western Asia and eastern Europe. The name `sunn pest' encompasses a group of insects representing several genera of the shield bug (Scutelleridae) and stink bug (Pentatomidae) families, with the species Eurygaster integriceps being the most economically important. Over recent decades problems have intensified, largely due to changes in farming practices. This threatens food security and reduces the stability of traditionally wheat-based agricultural systems.

Since the first international conference in 1992, significant progress has been made towards the development of an IPM package. The goals of this second conference are to review research, disseminate knowledge on recent advances towards management, and develop international networking among sunn pest researchers and managers. Topics to be covered include:

• IPM tactics for management of sunn pest: recent advances in IPM research, cultural practices, biological control, chemical control and host plant resistance.
• Socioeconomics of sunn pest: farmer participatory activities, impact assessment methods, farmers' constraints in adoption of IPM, economic returns and environmental benefits of IPM.
• Sunn pest biology and ecology: recent advances in the characterization of sunn pest, pheromone research, and ecology and physiology.

  More on sunn pest and recent research can be found on Sunn Pest Net at:

  www.uvm.edu/%7Eentlab/sunnpest/index.html

  Conference information:
  Mustapha El Bouhssini,
  Second International Sunn Pest Conference,
  ICARDA, PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria.
  Email: spconference@cgiar.org
  Fax: +963 21 2213490/2225105
  Web: www.icarda.cgiar.org/sunnpest/Spconference.htm

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  Weed Biology Conference

  The 12th International Conference on Weed Biology will be held in Dijon, France on 31 August - 2 August 2004. The provisional programme includes:

• Physical and cultural weed control: development and implementation in sustainable agriculture.
• Crop-weed interactions: fundamental understanding of processes and utilization of this knowledge for improved weed management.
• Site specific weed management: state-of-art of sensors, GPS/GIS hard- and soft-ware and machinery (sprayers) for monitoring and management.
• Other cropping situations: biology and control in tropical crops, biological control, biodiversity and endangered species.
• Herbicide resistance: cultural and chemical methods to prevent further development of resistance, management strategies for resistant populations.
• Optimization of herbicide dose: chemical weed control in crop production, dose adjustment, reduction of herbicide inputs.

  Further information: J. Gasquez, INRA,
  Biologie et Gestion des Adventices,
  17 Rue Sully, BP 86510,
  Dijon Cedex, France.
  Email: gasquez@dijon.inra.fr
  Fax: +33 3 69 32 62
  Web: www.dijon.inra.fr/malherbo/AccueilF1.htm

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