International Pest Control – November/December 2021 – Vol 63, Nr.6

IPCadmin | November 23, 2021

Cover Image: Sitophilus granaries In this issue we report on the first year of the novIGRain project to protect stored grain.
Picture by novIGRain

It is sad, but not unexpected, to read that the COVID pandemic has undermined decades of development according to the UN FAO. When combined with the impacts of climate change which were clearly stated at the recent COP26 in Glasgow it is a big concern that our efforts to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 deadline has been blown so badly off course.

This is a theme that is picked up by the International Fund for Agricultural Development who highlight the bad pay of small-scale farmers and agricultural workers. These are the people that feed a large part of the world’s population, yet many can barely afford to feed themselves. But IFAD is trying to unlock finance from public development banks to support small-scale farmers.

Climate comes up again with the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C) announcing a $193 million fund for climate smart agricultural innovation – although there is a concern it is too focused on technological solutions and not on establishing sustainable agriculture.

While it is great to see organisations responding to the impact of climate change on agriculture it was very disappointing to see that food systems – part of the problem, but also badly impacted by climate change and part of the solution – were not prominent on the COP26 agenda. There were lots of pledges and announcements but not much in the way of commitments.

The Koronivia joint work on agriculture (established at COP23 in Fiji) is set to continue at both the meetings of the subsidiary bodies in Bonn in June 2022 and at COP27 in Egypt in November 2022. Apparently one of the major sticking points in the COP26 Koronivia negotiations was the proposed inclusion of a reference to “agroecology” – which focuses on equity and ecosystem protection. Africa and Europe were pushing for its inclusion but the USA and India were amongst those opposed. The clock is ticking down, our carbon budget will be exhausted by 2030 at the latest. If we allow the average global temperature to rise above 2°C, pest control may be the least of our problems.

Our special feature on Pest & Disease Control in Plant Products kicks off with IPC Technical Consultant Dr Partho Dhang taking a look at how climate change has been making construction companies think about using wood for multi-story buildings.

Another IPC Technical Consultant Dr Terry Mabbett has a look at how wooden fence posts across Europe have been hit by the ban on the use of CCA (chromated copper arsenate) which has significantly reduced their useful life to the point that fencing companies are now looking for alternatives.

We get our first year’s report from the novIGRain team who have had the challenge of starting a new multi-national project in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Despite the impact on all the team much progress has been made and they are in a good position for the project’s second year.

We return to Abu Dhabi to see how paints are working to control cockroaches in the sewerage system. B&G offer some advice on how to improve application technique and save time. Prof Graham Matthews considers the need to return to more traditional farming methods as more and more chemicals are withdrawn. Dr Anamika Sharma reports on augmented biological control. And we look at how plants may benefit from compounds developed by ants.

The Fall Army Worm had a good year in America encouraged by a warming climate and just the right (or wrong) wind direction. Dr Terry Mabbett makes another contribution on the subject of establishing sugar cane. The spread of disease of trees and orchard crops continues to present huge economic problems. And we close with a look at how willow can reduce ruminant methane emissions and therefore contribute to the fight against climate change.

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