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. Glasshouse ListservThe GoodBugs-L listserv, run by the IOBC/WPRS (International Organization for the Biological Control of Noxious Plants and Animals - Western Palaearctic Regional Section) Working Group (WG) on Integrated Control in Protected Crops, Temperate Climate has been active for little more than a year but already has 156 subscribers from Europe, Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Brazil, New Zealand, Morocco and Israel, including a number of people not previously WG members. Contact: Henrik F. Brødsgaard ❑ Weed Biocontrol on CDThe Center for Pest Information Technology and Transfer (CPITT) in Queensland WeedBiocontrol CD-ROM covers both theory and practice of weed biological control. It is an interactive training and resource package for those who want to learn more about the theory and practical application of the biological control of weeds. It details the key steps involved in the biological control of weeds and the knowledge and skills required to successfully implement a weed biological control programme including: project initiation and planning; gaining project approval; how to conduct foreign exploration and surveys in the introduced range; how to conduct ecological studies and host specificity studies; an overview of legislation and protocols to prevent problems that may arise from uncontrolled release of biological control agents and how to obtain approval to import agents; importation for release; methods for rearing agents; selection of release sites; methods of distribution and release, and establishment and factors that might threaten it; and evaluating the impact of biological control agents - not merely providing 'recipes' here, but encouraging users to consider what is most appropriate for their particular circumstance and agent depending on, for example, available resources for rearing, and including issues such as public participation. A comprehensive resource centre covers many related but varied topics, for example the importance of taxonomy, climate matching using CLIMEX, biological characters of weeds and pathogens in weed biocontrol, and cost-benefit analyses. It gives advice on plant propagation and cultivation, details how to compile a plant list and prioritize agents, and explains how to write a host specificity report and choose release candidates. It also includes FAO Protocols and directs users to other information resources. Preview: www.cpitt.uq.edu.au/software/WeedBiocontrol/ Contact: WeedBiocontrol,
CPITT, ❑ Biological Control of Tropical Weeds CourseCSIRO (Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) and Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (QDNR&M) are running a 2-week international course at the University of Queensland, Brisbane on 16-28 March 2003, which aims to give participants a sound understanding of the theory of weed biological control and practical training in the procedures involved in implementing a weed biological control programme. Aspects addressed will include: case studies showing how biocontrol agents, particularly insects, can effectively reduce weed numbers on a sustainable basis; key concepts of population biology and insect taxonomy; main strategies of biological control, concentrating on classical control, with one session on inundative release (mycoherbicides); factors involved in the selection of target weeds and suitable biological control agents; procedures for classical biological control, including the theory of where to look for possible agents, the theory of host specificity and how to conduct host range tests; quarantine safety procedures - facilities and practice; mass rearing, distribution and establishment methods for biocontrol agents; political, legal, community and economic aspects of introducing biological control agents against weeds; monitoring and evaluation of control agents after release. Participants will also have the opportunity to present and discuss weed problems in their countries. Fees and subsistence will total A$3900, and applicants should seek sponsorship from appropriate private and public sector agencies including national and international organizations as soon as possible. Contact: Sally Brown, ❑ New Cocoa NewsletterGRO-Cocoa (Global Research on Cocoa) is a new US Department of Agriculture-funded newsletter focusing on smallholder farmers and on research- and farmer-led research and training that can deliver practical IPM solutions to their pest and disease problems. It is edited by a team from CABI Commodities, an initiative of CABI Bioscience. There are articles in the first issue from all the major coca-producing areas covering a diversity of topics. For example, there is a report on the potential of New World endophytes as biological control agents for cocoa diseases, and another describing the SUCCESS project in Sulawesi, Indonesia, which has reduced cocoa pod borer (Conopomorpha cramerella) infestations from an average of 40% to 15% by using the Farmer Field School approach to introduce cultural methods of control. Download from the Resources
section of the CABI Commodities site at: Or contact: Rebecca Murphy, ❑ 'Shoo-fly' StoryAn information package on the eradication of the papaya fruit fly (Batrocera papayas) from Australia may provide a blueprint for the formulation of similar pest eradication strategies in the future. First detected near Cairns in Queensland in 1995, a sustained campaign involving cooperating stakeholders led to the fruit fly's eradication from mainland Australia being declared in June 1999. The package includes a book describing the Queensland Department of Primary Industries' role in eradicating the fruit fly, together with a CD-ROM containing copies of the technical manuals issued during the campaign. Early work, including research to confirm the identity of the fly and the mobilization of the response, are detailed; early recognition of the threat and its significance to Australian horticulture were fundamental to the development of a concerted rapid response and probably its ultimate success. The information provided on monitoring, quarantine and quality control make this package an invaluable source of information on the processes involved in mounting a successful eradication campaign. Or contact: Customer Service, ❑ Liriomyza CDThe Potato Leaf Miner Task Force (PLMTF) from the Department of Agriculture, Regional Field Unit, Cordillera Administrative Region in the Philippines has developed a CD-ROM entitled 'Scientific information database on leafminer flies of vegetables and ornamental crops'. This contains information developed on their website, 'Primer on leafminers (Liriomyza spp.) of vegetables in Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines' at: The CD includes all published work (fully searchable by author, date, title, publication, keyword, or all entries can be browsed), a 7-minute video plus a photo gallery. The team has developed this for extension workers, students and other interested stakeholders who have no access to published information, or to the Internet. They have already sent the CD to rural areas in the Philippines highlands where leafminer is a serious problem, together with a computer that has a CD drive. Contact: Dr E. A. Verzola, Dr Ravindra C. Joshi, ❑ European Pesticide ReductionThe proceedings of the PAN Europe Conference 2001, 'Time for a Change', are now available as a PDF file. The conference focused on pesticide reduction in Europe, with papers presented at the following workshops: Pesticides and the Precautionary Principle, Pesticide Use Reduction in Europe, Pesticides, Agriculture and the Role of the Consumer, and Focal Point in Eastern Europe. Also included are plenary presentations and contributions from participating European organizations. The proceedings will be useful both for people working in European agriculture, and those supplying European markets. Contact: Ute
Meyer, ❑ New Resources from PAN UKThe PAN (Pesticide Action Network) UK website has posted the following new resources: Pesticides News No. 56 is available in print by subscription. On-line you can read the contents and read selected on-line articles, including 'PAN calls for pesticide use reduction in Europe'. See: www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/contents/pn56.htm The List of Lists is a PDF (259 KB) file containing a catalogue of pesticides identifying those which are associated with particularly harmful health and environmental impacts. See: www.pan-uk.org/briefing/listofli.pdf The PAN UK Annual Review for 2001 is available as a PDF (573 KB) file. See: www.pan-uk.org/Reviews/AR2001.pdf ❑ |
