Public Health
Genetically engineered Aedes aegypti
After extensive evaluation of the best available science and public input, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted an experimental use permit (EUP) to Oxitec Ltd to field test the use of genetically engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes as a way to reduce mosquito populations to protect public health from mosquito-borne illnesses. The EPA claimed […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Animal Health
New sub-Saharan infectious disease surveillance program
The African Small Companion Animal Network (AFSCAN), a project of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association’s (WSAVA) charitable foundation, has launched a significant new sub-Saharan infectious disease surveillance program. With Bayer Animal Health as the major sponsor, the program will provide novel data on the prevalence and distribution of ectoparasites and arthropod-borne infectious diseases of […]
Pests & Our Pets: Keeping Companion Animals Safer
With all the damage that pests can cause to businesses, agriculture and even the environment itself, sometimes it’s simply a necessity to use things like pesticides and other ways to keep their populations at bay. But rather than waiting until they’ve become a problem, either in our homes or towards our pets, it’s better to […]
Augmenting the Efficacy of Fungal and Mycotoxin Control via Chemosensitization
Mycotoxins, fungicides and crop production Infection of crops by fungal pathogens, especially those that produce mycotoxins, e.g., aflatoxins, fumonisins, zearalenone, patulin, ochratoxins, etc., is problematic because effective fungicides for eliminating mycotoxigenic fungi, especially fungicide-resistant pathogens, are sometimes very limited. Recent data showed that mycotoxin contamination damages around 25% of global food and feed crop production […]
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 […]
Other Recent Articles
Europe’s 20 most unwanted
In October the European Commission published a list of 20 regulated quarantine pests qualifying as priority pests, including Xylella fastidiosa, the Japanese beetle, the Asian long-horned beetle, citrus greening and citrus black spot, whose economic, environmental and social impact on EU’s territory is the most severe. Member States will have to launch information campaigns to […]
International Pest Control – November/December 2019 – Vol 61, Nr.6
Malaria still kills 435,000 people every year – 90% of them in Africa – and preventing these deaths as well as the suffering caused by 219 million cases of malaria each year has been the focus of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for many years. Its latest initiative is to facilitate the supply of […]
IPM to fight fall armyworm
CABI scientists are recommending the use of more environmentally sustainable biological controls, as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy, to fight the fall armyworm (FAW) instead of favouring more harmful pesticides. In a new paper published in the International Journal of Pest Management, Dr Justice Tambo led a team of researchers who suggest […]
International Pest Control – September/October 2019 – Vol 61, Nr.5
It seems that there is no end to the number of applications for graphene. First seen in the 1960s but rediscovered in 2004 resulting in Nobel prizes for the researchers and subsequently a host of potential and actual uses being researched and developed. Using it as a layer in new materials to deter mosquito bites […]
