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International Pest Control – July/August 2021 – Vol 63, Nr.4

| July 27, 2021

Cover Image: American cockroaches were acclimated in mason jars for a direct spray study at Prospect Hill laboratories in North Carolina, USA – see article on p198.
Picture by Eurofins Regulatory Science Services

We start this issue with a quick look at the progress – or not – of biological control measures, Bayer’s intention to start farming in Europe on the road to decarbonisation and a big investment at a Chinese University into research glasshouses. The UK’s environmental guardians Defra are looking to completely ban glue boards while around the world funds are being directed towards empowering women in rural areas, improving the quality of food crops and their standard of living.

PestWorld 2021 in the USA is back but how many of us from overseas will be able to go remains to be seen. And even if we do go we may then find compulsory quarantine the penalty on our return!

Lots of company news; it seems the pandemic has not stopped companies merging and growing. The one that caught my eye was i2L which has now been bought by Cawood. I can remember visiting their new labs in Cardiff back in 2001/2 when it was still being built. Now, 20 years on and with labs around the world its next step is to become part of a larger group.

Our company profile this issue is ERSS (Eurofins Regulatory Science Services); they don’t have a lot to say about themselves but what they do say is succinct and worth reading. It is interesting how, with the exception of the big conglomerates, more and more companies are turning to specialists like ERSS to provide field trials and assistance with the registration of products.

Our Special Feature in this issue is Public Health: Control of Disease Vectors and we have contributions from two of our technical consultants Professor Fabio Castello, who looks at the interaction between COVID and disease vectors, while Professor Graham Matthews considers the WHO approach to malaria control and how we may need to adapt to new ways of living. Dr Stan Cope takes a look at trapping systems while John Clayton reviews some new spraying products including a battery electric sprayer designed to take the arm ache out of surface treatment.

COVID reappears in Technical Consultant Alex Wade’s look at the impact of the changes in our lifestyle on the activities of rat populations and also the scary possibility that these neighbours of ours could become a reservoir for the COVID virus. Dr Partho Dhang reviews a new CABI book on the German cockroach, and leaves me wishing I’d asked for a copy for myself! It sounds like every chapter in the book is full of valuable information whether you are trying to rear the pest in the lab to study or are in the field trying to control it.

Kenya is being invaded by a snail, apparently the apple snail threatens the country’s rice production. Pomacea canaliculata is listed among ‘100 of the world’s worst invasive species.’ Its introduction and spread in Southeast Asia was thought to be largely due to intentional introduction and it has become a serious agricultural and ecological pest. Let us hope it can be got under control before it makes Africa a home from home.

It was surprising to learn that the mechanism by which potato blight Phytophthora infestans infects plants was not known. This is a pathogen that has caused famines, mass migration and death. We have lived with it for decades but it is only now that work at Wageningen University – a collaboration between biologists and physicists – has uncovered the mechanism of penetration, offering us the potential of developing new ways of controlling the disease.

Next issue we are considering Biopesticides and Biocontrol: from Glasshouse to Field. If you have done any work in this area and would like to tell our readers about it now is your chance. Especially interested to hear about work on the use of biocontrol in field scale crops.

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

Contents International Pest Control July/August 2021
Volume 63, Number 4.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • New perspectives needed to boost biological control.
  • Bayer launches its decarbonisation program.
  • UK plans to ban rodent glue boards completely.
  • IFAD and Maharashtra to empower 1 million rural women.
  • Iran claims success against locusts.

ASSOCATION & SOCIETY NEWS

  • PestWorld 2021 returns as an in person event.

COMPANY NEWS

  • Andermatt Biocontrol and Anthesis.
  • More companies sign up for BASF easyconnect system.
  • Mitsui completes acquisition of Belchim and makes changes.
  • Pessl and BASF to boost fruit and veg production.
  • Five-point plan to address future Roundup™ claims.
  • Cawood acquires i2L Research Ltd.
  • Biobest invest in robots and launches new osmoregulator.
  • Futureco Bioscience bionematicides patents.
  • regenagri & Cool Farm Alliance collaborate.
  • Export team appointments at Liphatech.
  • Smart farming joint venture gets global green light.
  • Spotta strengthens global reach with new resellers.

COMPANY PROFILE

  • Eurofins Regulatory Science Services: Pest & vector control… read more

SPECIAL FEATURE – Control of Disease Vectors

  • The need to reduce outdoor biting by Anopheles species.
  • Arboviruses transmission during the COVID pandemic.
  • The use and benefits of traps in your mosquito service.
  • New directions in the control of disease vectors.
  • New species of Bruchomyiinae from Brazil.

PUBLIC HEALTH

  • Changing views, rats and COVID-19.
  • Book Review: Biology and Management of the German Cockroach.

AGRICULTURE

  • Highly invasive apple snail in Kenya.
  • Europeans should grow more legumes.
  • Pathway for improving resistance to deadly cassava virus.
  • Increasing crop production without clearing new fields.
  • How potato blight pathogen penetrates the plant.

HORTICULTURE & AMENITY

  • Blueberry – super-strength calcium fit for a super fruit.

CALENDAR

  • Upcoming pest control events

Published in International Pest Control – July/August 2021 issue.

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Category: Issue Editorial & Contents

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