March 1999, Volume 20 No. 1
- Editorial
- General News
- Training News
- Internet Round-Up
- Announcements
- Conference Reports
- Proceedings
Water Hyacinth Working Group
The first global working group meeting for the biological and integrated control of water hyacinth under the auspices of the International Organisation for Biological Control (IOBC) was held at St Lucia Park, Harare, Zimbabwe on 16-19 November 1998. This meeting was attended by 47 delegates from 20 countries, including Argentina, USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Papua New Guinea, China and India. The majority of the delegates were from Africa, and South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Egypt were represented.
The workshop was divided into five sessions during which 20-minute oral papers were presented. Topics covered included the implementation and post-release evaluation of natural enemies, research into new natural enemies for water hyacinth and the need for an integrated approach to the control of the weed. The water hyacinth problem on Lake Victoria was the focus of much discussion and it was encouraging to note that not only is the biological control of water hyacinth well underway in this region, but also that it is achieving good results. There were a number of reports from countries where biological and integrated control of water hyacinth is being implemented and also from Burkina Faso and Angola where biological control programmes have recently been initiated. During the workshop there was a field trip to Lake Chivero just outside Harare where an integrated control programme with the emphasis on biological control has been successful.
It was evident from the meeting that there is a need for a globally coordinated effort on water hyacinth, which would prevent the costly replication of research. To this end, a water hyacinth clearinghouse was proposed to facilitate access to scientific, socio-economic and technical information globally.
The proceedings of this meeting are to be published shortly. The second global working group for the biological and integrated control of water hyacinth is to be held in China in 2000.
By: Martin Hill, ARC, PPRI,
Private Bag X 134, Pretoria,
South Africa, 0001
Email: Rietmh@Plant2.Agric.za
Fax: +27 12 3293278
The VIIth International Colloquium on Invertebrate Pathology and Microbial Control and the IVth International Conference on Bacillus thuringiensis held in Sapporo, Japan on 23-28 August 1998 were attended by some 400 delegates. The conference was divided into topic sections: Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), viruses, nematodes, fungi, microbial control, bacteria, microsporidia, marine invertebrates, entomophorales, insect immune system and insect cell culture.
The conference started with the Founder's Memorial Lecture: `Karl Maramorosch: great leader of invertebrate tissue culture and pathology'. The honouree, Professor Maramorosch (State University of New Jersey, USA), who is now in his eighties, attended the conference and is still very active in the field of virology. The Memorial Lecture considered Professor Maramorosch's extraordinary life and his role as an exceptional scientist in the field of virology.
A symposium was held on `Biology and Utilization of an Entomogenous Fungal Genus Cordyceps' which included a presentation by Professor Mitsuaki Shimazu from the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Japan on the use of Cordyceps militaris to control beech caterpillar, Quadricalcarifera punctatella. Another interesting paper was presented by Professor Sung of the Republic of Korea in which he described Cordyceps found in Korea, and talked about mass production of artificial fruiting bodies in potato dextrose broth with silkworm pupae on unpolished rice.
A microbial control symposium entitled `Microbial Insecticides: Novelty or Necessity?' was well attended. This session concentrated on the successes and failures of microbial insecticides in different uses. Dr. H. Evans, from Forest Research, UK, highlighted the need to understand the life cycle of the organism before relevant control could be successful. Dr. T Jackson, from AgResearch, New Zealand, had looked at controlling soil pests and related problems which has led to recommendations that co-evolved organisms are probably the most suitable for controlling such pests. Dr. Jackson also emphasized the importance of looking at economic production, delivery systems and securing a suitable market niche, which can be very variable.
Overall, the conference was very interesting and stimulating and proved of value to students and scientists alike.
OECD Safety Workshop
The following is a brief résumé of the issues identified with the appropriate recommendations.
- Sustainable pest management: governments should exercise leadership in developing policies and programmes that support biological control as a key component of sustainable pest management.
- Harmonization: with limited resources, small profit margins and restricted markets for biological control products, every effort should be made to facilitate their registration through global harmonization of appropriate regulatory requirements.
- Cooperation and information exchange: member countries should promote and facilitate cooperation between all the parties concerned, both nationally and internationally, to meet societal needs for sustainable pest management. This should include the establishment of databases on taxonomy, biosafety, safety management and monitoring.
- Education, communication and public confidence: governments should facilitate the participation of all stakeholders in ensuring that biological control is properly understood, promoted and implemented
- Funding for biological control: governments should ensure that adequate funding is available to establish and maintain core competence, as well as the databases and links necessary for research and implementation of biological control, and that sustainability is a key criterion for application of public-good funding for pest management.
By: H. C. Evans, CABI Bioscience UK Centre (Ascot)
Contact: Dr Heikki Hokkanen,
OECD Directorate for Agriculture,
2 Rue André-Pascal,
75775 Paris Cedex 16, France
Email: heikki.hokkanen@oecd.org
Fax: +33 1 45 24 78 34
Dr Robert Trottier, IPM Associates,
81 Tadoussac, Aylmer, Quebec,
Canada J9J 2M9
Email: ipmcanada@videotron.ca
Fax: +1 819 772 1997
