International Pest Control – May/June 2022 – Vol 64, Nr.3

IPCadmin | June 14, 2022

COVER IMAGE: A new state-of-the-art greenhouse for breeding vegetable seed varieties, the advanced indoor growing technologies will save water, energy and other agricultural inputs.
Picture by BASF

The Governor of the Bank of England is concerned about the level of food price inflation that has been a consequence of the war in the Ukraine. And while food price rises in Europe and the USA may be “apocalyptic” the area of greatest concern is surely the cost of staple foods in the less developed world where consumers faced with a “cost of living” crisis find the term is literal and they simply cannot afford to live. António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said Ukraine-related shortages could help “tip tens of millions of people over the edge into food insecurity”. The result could be “malnutrition, mass hunger and famine in a crisis that could last for years”. Maximising yield and minimising post-harvest loss has never been more important.

With the world facing a wheat shortage we report on genetic drivers that improve yield traits and can increase protein content by 25%. As wheat accounts for 20% of protein worldwide this has to be good news… but not of immediate help, unlike the USDA APHIS service which is celebrating 50 years of public service, eradicating plant pests and serious animal disease.

Healthy soil is not just good for biodiversity, it also stores carbon making regeneration of soil a large carbon capture and storage project which also benefits yield. With the decoding of the potato genome the door has been opened to breeding more robust varieties which will improve yield and reduce the need for pest control. But there is always the option of expanding production on the moon… delivery might be a problem!

PestEx returned this year after a two-year break and delegates from all over the world came to London to reconnect with peers and colleagues. With one third of the exhibitors from overseas it was a true international event. The programme for ICUP 2022 in Barcelona this June has also been released. Meanwhile in the USA NPMA are planning PestWorld 2022 which will take place in Boston in October.

We have several pages of company news with announcements from Bayer, Oxitec, Bird Barrier America, Syngenta, Big Change, BioBest and Orkin. Our company profile this issue is Barkwith Associates who can navigate with confidence the increasingly complex world of regulation that surrounds our industry.

Our special feature is technology in pest control with a series of short articles from around the world covering topics from digital pest control to the growing use of drones, using technology to refine pest management, precision irrigation and the use of scouting apps.

In public health Dr Terry Mabbett reports on a rare victory in the war with termites while Chris Parmiter looks at the control of field mice in the UK. And we also look at a novel use of nanoparticles to control mosquitos.

In agriculture cover crops come out ahead of insecticides as a means of pest control but we’ve also discovered how fungi can bypass plant defences while ergot, a toxin to humans, can confer protection to its host plant.

Garlic may be able to ward off vampires but can’t keep viruses at bay with virus-free varieties hard to find; selecting the best performing bulbs in the field produces higher yielding plants which are still not free of the virus load. Another crop that benefits from intercropping is the melon with cowpea proving to be a good companion that increased yield and improved the soil.

In forestry and plantation Dr Terry Mabbett reports on how nutrients can boost cotton yields while scientists at the Max Planck Institute have determined that salicylic acid and jasmonic acid can increase disease resistance in trees. And lastly, black fig fly is invading figs in California while banana blood disease is spreading across SE Asia.

As always, if you have something of interest to report please do just send it in.

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