International Pest News
Any beer will do as slugs reject Cava
A nationwide experiment carried out in the UK has revealed that the old myth of slugs being attracted to beer is in fact true, with lager and bitter proving to be the most effective drinks for successfully trapping those pesky garden pests. Up and down the country members of horticultural charity, Garden Organic, have been […]
International News in Brief – Company news
Staff changes at ICB Pharma ICB Pharma has announced it has a new Head of Pest Innovations Department; after one and a half years as the Head of Marketing, Krzysztof Pekala has taken on the additional responsibilities of this new role. The company’s strategy for 2020-2023 and the expected rapid development of the Innovations department […]
2nd International Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and Tencent, will organise the 2nd International Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge in which multidisciplinary teams from around the world will use artificial intelligence to remotely produce vegetables. The goal is to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) can produce greenhouse grown vegetables more efficiently and effectively. In the future more greenhouses will […]
Public Health
Preliminary tests to validate the effectiveness of the Inpest pheromone dispenser patch
Monitoring traps are often used to catch certain species of stored product insect pests and in these traps a pheromone attractant is used to lure the insects. Once attracted, a sticky board or bucket captures the insect. In the case of stored product moths, the pheromones are sex attractants which attract only males of the […]
How climate change is creating a global pest problem
Rentokil Steritech have identified climate change as a factor that is accelerating the damages caused by pests, which could result in a wider spread of infectious diseases, increased crop destruction, extensive electrical damage and food safety issues. As most pests are more prevalent in warmer climates, the impact of an increasing temperature could be potentially […]
The day of the jackal and a wolf in dogs’ clothing?
French shepherds are angry about EU laws stop them from killing the wolves, which are attacking their sheep, especially since they claim to have evidence showing most of these canine predators are hybrid animals arising from cross breeding between wolves and domestic dogs. Such animals they say can be legally shot and killed without the […]
Agriculture
Smartphone app is the farmer’s newest weapon in crop protection
Scientists are creating a new smartphone app to help farmers and growers tackle the pests destroying their crops, and it could soon have a major impact on the way information about the natural world is gathered, stored and accessed worldwide. The team of researchers from the University of Lincoln, UK, is designing and building the […]
DNA scan crop failure solution is a UK first
In a UK first, a pioneering scientific research company has introduced a new way for growers to test their plants and crops for harmful fungi and bacteria, allowing action to be taken before it’s too late. Eurofins Agro UK has introduced scientific testing to the UK which can detect an issue before it becomes visible, […]
The first isopropanol-azole is introduced to the market
Farmers face many challenges in managing their farms profitably, including fewer products available to address increasing resistance. This reduction stems from steadily tightening regulations and the difficulty of finding new active ingredients. BASF’s fungicide innovation Revysol® is the first isopropanol-azole being introduced to the market. This makes its approval in the EU an important milestone […]
Forestry-Plantation
First ever plantain resistant to banana streak virus
Using the gene editing tool CRISPR, a team of scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has announced that they have developed banana and plantain varieties that are resistant to banana streak virus (BSV). BSV is hampering the crop’s production in Africa and threatening the food and income of millions of farmers. BSV […]
A tale of two squirrels
The two species of squirrel resident in the United Kingdom (UK) are Sciurus vulgaris (native European Red Squirrel) and Sciurus carolinensis (North American Eastern Grey Squirrel), the latter introduced as a fashionable addition to estates in the 1870’s. Its population of 2.5 million is spread over most of the UK and dwarves the 140,000 native […]
World Pest Awareness Day
The 6th June 2017 has been declared World Pest Awareness Day to serve as a reminder of how professional pest management helps protect our quality of life. Three global pest management associations; The Confederation of European Pest Management Associations (CEPA), the Federation of Asian and Oceania Pest Managers’ Association (FAOPMA) and the @NationalPestManagementAssn (USA), have […]
Special Features
The future evolution of pest control
Organized pest control has a long history that dates to 4000 BC when the first ever pest control solution – sulphur – was used in ancient Sumer to keep insects away from crops. Since then, pest control has seen steady progress, from botanical products used as fungicides for seed treatments in China, to professional “rat-catchers” […]
Using pesticides in amenity areas
Using pesticides in amenity areas such as parks, golf courses and other areas open to the public has to conform to the EU regulations in a similar manner to protecting crops on farms. The main difference is that there are a diverse range of spray targets which frequently have to be treated using manually carried […]
Managing the problem of leatherjacket at UK airports
UK airports recently faced an issue due to the removal of a chemical, or to be precise the lack of knowledge regarding its avail- ability. The application of European EC Regulation 2009/128/EC, applied by the UK, led to the nationwide withdrawal of Chlorpyrifos. However, since the 1960’s chlorpyrifos had helped in the control of larvae […]
Horticulture-Amenity
Natural weapon used by marigolds
Scientists have revealed for the first time the natural weapon used by marigolds to protect tomato plants against destructive whiteflies. Researchers from Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences carried out a study to prove what gardeners around the world have known for generations – marigolds repel tomato whiteflies. Publishing their findings in the […]
More sustainable tea production in India
CABI scientists have revealed that India’s tea – which accounts for around 27 percent of the world’s tea production – could be protected from devastating crop pests with more environmentally friendly and sustainable biological controls rather than an over reliance on pesticides. As part of research funded by Unilever and working with partners including the […]
Development of fruit fly control strategies
The Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) constitutes one of the key pests of citrus, being the target of many IPM programs around the Mediterranean Sea. This species has a great ability to disperse, to use alternative hosts and displays a great developmental plasticity allowing it to survive most of the year, contributing […]
Latest Posts
International Pest Control – May/June 2019 – Vol 61, Nr.3
Creating refuges for wildlife around fields is not uncommon in the UK and around the world but for these strips to be of value they need a diversity of plant species growing in them. Apparently, they are all too often overrun by the “wrong type” of weed and especially less beneficial grasses. The glyphosate story […]
Company Profile…PronixNova Ltd: Experience, innovation, customer care, product support
A new, innovative, customer and operator focused manufacturer of global vector pest management equipment has arrived: PronixNova Limited. Between them, the two proprietors of PronixNova have over 75 years combined experience in fine droplet application methods covering field use, product design and manufacture. Following the take-over of Curtis Dynafog Ltd in 2014 the company’s Asia […]
Any beer will do as slugs reject Cava
A nationwide experiment carried out in the UK has revealed that the old myth of slugs being attracted to beer is in fact true, with lager and bitter proving to be the most effective drinks for successfully trapping those pesky garden pests. Up and down the country members of horticultural charity, Garden Organic, have been […]
International News in Brief – Company news
Staff changes at ICB Pharma ICB Pharma has announced it has a new Head of Pest Innovations Department; after one and a half years as the Head of Marketing, Krzysztof Pekala has taken on the additional responsibilities of this new role. The company’s strategy for 2020-2023 and the expected rapid development of the Innovations department […]
2nd International Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and Tencent, will organise the 2nd International Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge in which multidisciplinary teams from around the world will use artificial intelligence to remotely produce vegetables. The goal is to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) can produce greenhouse grown vegetables more efficiently and effectively. In the future more greenhouses will […]
Bee-saving vote delayed two years
On the eve of a Europe-wide day of action calling for the European Commission to protect bees from harmful pesticides, the Commission announced it will delay the implementation of new pesticide testing standards by a full two years and may revise them. SumOfUs, a movement of consumers setup to hold corporations accountable for their actions, […]
California state glyphosate trial
Bayer is disappointed with the jury’s decision in favour of Mr. and Mrs Pilliod, the plaintiffs, in the Californian Courts and it has announced that it will appeal the verdict, which Bayer claims conflicts directly with; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s interim registration review decision released just last month; the consensus among leading health regulators […]
Not all weeds are equal
Wildlife friendly refuges around the edges of farmers’ crops have been credited with slowing biodiversity declines, however, new research shows their success ultimately depends on what’s growing next to the field. Recent reported increases in some crop pollinating insects suggested the upturn was due to more UK farms creating these pesticide-free areas. However, this new […]
