International Pest Control – January/February 2025 – Vol 67, Nr.1

IPCadmin | February 7, 2025

Cover image: Relatively low levels of bark stripping are seen on trees in woodlands in and around London because the grey squirrel population is too well fed in public parks and householders’ gardens.
Picture by Dr Terry Mabbett

Preserving harvested crops and ensuring the best price goes to the farmer is critical to feeding the world’s population. In Kenya the focus is on reducing crop loss of up to 40% by introducing affordable and community operated cold chain facilities. In Australia grain and vegetable growers are joining forces to invest nearly $25 million on a project to “reduce reliance on broad-spectrum insecticides and implement innovative strategies to manage pest populations”.

It’s great to report that the (EPA) has issued its first voucher under its Vector Expedited Review Voucher (VERV) Program. We first covered this innovative programme in Nov/Dec 2023 and Jan/Feb 2024 issues. More concerning is the ongoing impact of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) which according to some reports is one mutation away from easier transmission amongst humans: this feels like a story we will be returning to.

We report on three conferences: the UK BCPC (this is a two-part report with the second part in the next issue) which took on the task of “Shaping the Future of Crop Protection”, UK PestTech 2024 which bills itself as “A Showcase of Innovation and Community” and finally the annual Association of Applied Biologists IPM meeting.

Lots of association news from AAB, GPMC, IBMA, NPMA and TPMA/PMAT while company news includes the usual mix of new production and acquisitions from Koppert, Killgerm, Croda, Rentokil Initial, Andermatt, the newly renamed Fruit Research Centre, Bayer and BASF.

The special feature this issue is Climate Change and Pest Management, a bit of a cheat on my part as I know I could fill the magazine on this one topic – whether it is agriculture finding ways to mitigate its impact, modify the crops that are grown, invest in biofuels, fight climate enhanced herbicide resistance, phytomining, or invasive pest control. And yes, all of these could have been spread through the magazine under our regular sections which just leads to the conclusion that there is no sector that is not touched by climate change.

In Public Health we report on Toxic Male Technique, not a description of American politics but a method of controlling the vectors of disease by working as quickly as pesticides. Currently at the proof-of-concept stage this method could replace sterile male release. We also have some advice on avoiding the poisoning of non-target species when controlling rats (which are the Pest of the Issue).

Can cover crops outcompete herbicide resistant weeds? That’s a question University of Idaho graduate students are trying to answer. With a lot of weeds now glyphosate resistant, using cover crops to outcompete weeds – thereby reducing reliance on herbicides – would also help farmers comply with a new US EPA Endangered Species Act strategy.

Genes also come to the fore in a project to boost disease resistance in wheat by identifying which genes are important in determining resistance. Genes may also play a role in reversing insecticide resistance by creation of a new genetic system that converts insecticide-resistant forms of mutated insect genes back to their natural, native form. Syngenta is hoping AI can help it discover novel methods of disease control, significantly reduce discovery time for new safe crop protection solutions and get them into the hands of farmers as quickly as possible.

In Horticulture and Amenity, the new tool on the block seems to be ways of “applying” biological control agents like spider mites. We report on the BioBee solution and Koppert’s Aerobreez.

In Forestry and Plantation our resident expert Dr Terry Mabbett looks at the role of that introduced pest the grey squirrel and what is the best tree to plant given the onslaught of introduced tree pests that the UK is suffering from. Finally, we have our annual index to help you find articles from 2024.

In our next issue we look at the pests of crop and amenity trees – if you would like to contribute, please feel free to email us your article with pictures.

Chris Endacott, Editor International Pest Control magazine
editor@international-pest-control.com