March 1999, Volume 20 No. 1
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.
Scientists Link up on Evaluation of Transgenic Organisms for IPM
Readers of BNI will be well informed about recent developments in biotechnology for crop production, and the concern that these technologies are not being developed or deployed as components of sustainable IPM with a mind to their interaction with other aspects of pest management. In October 1998, experts in field evaluation of Bt crops and related biotechnologies from China, Australia, Europe and North and South America met to develop a new IOBC (International Organization for Biological Control) Global Working Group on "Transgenic Organisms in Integrated Pest Management and Biological Control" which is intended to address these issues. This new Working Group will provide a forum for disseminating information on published and ongoing research, for discussion and for development of collaborative projects. Its terms of reference identify five specific areas of co-operation: (1) developing methods for measuring non-target effects and other aspects of efficacy and environmental impact, (2) developing methods and protocols for resistance management, (3) improving monitoring systems for early detection of resistance and other environmental changes arising from release of transgenic organisms and (4) engaging farmers and extensionists in the process of determining whether and how to use transgenic organisms in local IPM systems. The Working Group will focus on the development of sound scientific approaches to the evaluation and implementation of transgenic organisms in IPM, and will provide its findings through reports and on a website. It is designed specifically to engage scientists in public sector institutions from both the developing and developing world, because it is here that capacity to evaluate transgenic organisms in pest management has lagged well behind the deployment of these technologies in the field.
Contact: Dr Angelika Hilbeck
(Chair), Swiss Federal Research Station for
Agroecology and Agriculture,
Reckenholzstr. 191, 8046 Zurich,
Switzerland
Email: angelika.hilbeck@fal.admin.ch
Fax: +41 1 377 7201
A Symposium on the Ecological Effects of Biological Control
In October 1999, an international IOBC (International Organization for Biological Control) Symposium will be held on Evaluation of Indirect Ecological Effects in Biological Control in Montpellier, France. The Symposium promises to bring leading population and community ecologists together with biological control experts to consider the basic ecological processes which determine the impact of biological control in ecosystems, and how this might lead to improved methods for prediction and evaluation. Recent meetings about safety in biological control have highlighted non-target issues in a way that has tended to polarize discussion around the rights or wrongs of past biological control programmes. By setting aside the issue of how risks are weighed and judged, and focusing on the ecological measurement of target and non-target effects, this Symposium intends to move this subject forward in a positive manner towards improved methodologies for biological control. The first day of the three-day meeting will be devoted to keynote presentations on ecology and ecological approaches to biological control, followed by a day of submitted papers and posters, and finally a workshop to identify next steps. The Symposium is being organized at AGROPOLIS International in Montpellier by the IOBC Permanent Secretariat and the Complexe Internationale de Lutte Biologique Agropolis.
See: http://www.agropolis.fr/iobc
Contact: Mme. Mireille Montes da Oca, IOBC Permanent
Secretariat,
AGROPOLIS,
34394 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
Email: iobc.symp@agropolis.fr
Fax: +33 4 67 04 75 99
CABI Bioscience Course
A course on biological pest management is to run from 31 August to 24 September 1999 at CABI Bioscience UK Centre. The course is aimed at agricultural researchers and extension workers, including crop protection staff who wish to broaden their knowledge of pest management. Participants will learn the principles and basic methodology of biological pest management, how to conserve predators and parasites, how to introduce natural enemies from the native habitat of exotic pests, and how to culture arthropod and microbial control agents for field release. Participants may also select modules from an Entomology Foundation Course (16 August - 24 September). The course fee of UK£3600 includes tuition, all materials and self-catering accommodation.
Contact: Mrs Stephanie Groundwater, CABI
Bioscience UK Centre (Egham), Bakeham Lane, Egham,
Surrey TW20 9TY, UK
Email: S.Groundwater@cabi.org
Fax: +44 1491 829100
Michigan IPM Course
An IPM course, running from 25 July to 6 August 1999 at Michigan State University, will use the `train the trainers' approach to team building, knowledge sharing and participatory learning for scientists from developing countries. The short course will provide `hands-on' experience in integrated management of insects, diseases and weeds in field, vegetable and fruit crop ecosystems. The course aims to provide a mixture of traditional and experimental learning situations addressing the design, implementation and evaluation of IPM programmes. The course costs US$3285, including registration, fees, food and lodging and health insurance. The deadline for applications is 30 June 1999.
Contact: Dr K. M. Maredia,
Institute of International Agriculture,
416 Plant and Soil Sciences Bldg.,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Email: kmaredia@pilot.msu.edu
Fax: +1 517 432 1982
