International Pest Control – March/April 2023 – Vol 65, Nr.2

IPCadmin | April 6, 2023

COVER IMAGE:UNIPRO 40-T ULV Aerosol Generator at Tully Nurseries.
Picture by Peter Ruigrok

With fewer pesticides available – either because they have been withdrawn or banned or because of pest resistance – a new approach based on targeting genes may be both selective and a way of avoiding the build-up of resistance, but we are still a long way from the field! We look at research to silence genes in white flies and aphids.

Searching for a biological control solution for Drosophila suzukii – this pest of Japanese origin is now widespread in the Americas and Europe – at the University of Salamanca, they are looking for repellent molecules to keep the pest away from the crop.

Back to genes and a four-year Pest Genome Initiative by a consortium of Rothamsted Research, Syngenta and Bayer is hoped to help speed up the development of novel pest control approaches and overcome resistance with more nature-friendly solutions. It seems resistance and the impact of pest control measures is top of everyone’s list!

Meanwhile in the stately homes of the National Trust pests are not having a good year with Tineola bisselliella populations down nearly 40% on 2021. It could have been because the UK’s summer of 2021 was too hot and too dry – a one off or climate change in action?

Our “Bug of the Issue” is the rice weevil, Sitophillus oryzae, and our resident expert gives you all the information you need to identify this pest and keep it under control.

Lots of action in Association and Society News; FAOPMA Pest Summit, International Conference on Urban Pests, Conference on the Management of the Diamondback moth, Pestworld 2023, and finally the XIII European Vertebrate Pest Management Conference. We are spoilt for choice.

Company news is as busy as ever; new appointments, and numerous announcements from Microsoft, Bayer, Biobest, BASF, Eurofins, Mitsui, Andermatt, JT Eaton, Kimitec, ADAMA, Oerth Bio and M2i Group.

Then comes our Special Feature with contributions from our technical consultants Prof Graham Matthews and Dr Parth Dhang as well as a look at the use of fogging rather than spraying for pest control in glasshouses, new technology from BASF and more smart sprayer integration from John Deere. The role of IT, GPS and ultimately AI, is set to grow in this sector and hopefully reduce the use of pesticides while improving the control of pests.

In our subsequent regular sections, we look at a new rodent bait, using pregnant women to track malaria, plant pathogens and plant genes, a viru s that may help control Fusarium in wheat and adaption to climate change in the African bean industry.

Syngenta believes it has a solution to protect the UK from the box tree caterpillar – which will come as a relief to those with ornate box tree gardens. Gene editing is being used to find a way to control fruit fly to make all the offspring sterile.

Dr Terry Mabbett looks at the impact of climate change on city trees, as well as considering the impact of soluble calcium on coffee bean yield. In grapes the problem is too much copper which can affect the quality of the wine – apparently silicon can help.

In our next issue we will be looking at “Invasive Pests and their Control” so if you have some interesting research to communicate or want to report on a new use for an old technology, please let us know.

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

Contents International Pest Control March/April 2023
Volume 65, Number 2.