International Pest Control – September/October 2019 – Vol 61, Nr.5

IPCadmin | October 1, 2019

Co-creation in action, shared ideas and experience, helping to achieve more and innovate faster.
Picture by Corbion

It seems that there is no end to the number of applications for graphene. First seen in the 1960s but rediscovered in 2004 resulting in Nobel prizes for the researchers and subsequently a host of potential and actual uses being researched and developed. Using it as a layer in new materials to deter mosquito bites is its latest application being evaluated; one that could make a significant contribution to the fight against malaria.

Green MuscleTM is not the latest comic superhero but a biopesticide that has been around for a while and is now being relaunched in the fight against locusts in Africa; a fight Prof Graham Matthews describes in his article in our Biopesticides section; one example of a biopesticide working outside the shelter of the greenhouse or polytunnel.

Bayer is rolling out its new fungicide isoflucypram worldwide with a launch in New Zealand while in the UK farmers are being given access to precision soil mapping to help them target inputs. Bayer are also in the news for running an “Agriculture and Innovation Showcase” in California aimed at helping US farmers keep up with the changing consumer needs.

And another dog story (see July/August issue); this time it’s training dogs to sniff out citrus canker and help eradicate the disease from northern Australia.

Meanwhile at Rothamsted they have been testing the use of abattoir waste as a source of phosphorus in fertiliser. The aim is to reduce the dependence on mined phosphorus and find a new commercial use for the animal processing waste. A sustainable product that may leave some conflicted as might the subject of our next article; feeding insects to dogs.

Our company profile focus falls on Corbion; not a product name in our industry but one that hopes to be linked to lots of new products as a provider of the chemicals needed to formulate biopesticides. Corbion makes a range of formulation chemicals from lactic acid and its derivatives, a renewable product that fits well with the aims of those using biopesticides.

In our look at the use of biopesticides we consider how these products are going to make an effective transition from the shelter of the greenhouse to the field, a potential new source of toxins from marine worms, and how in Spanish greenhouses two new treatment regimes using biopesticides have achieved better results than traditional pesticide only programmes.

In public health we consider a new pest in the pet food industry, biocontrol of fire ants, and take a long term look at how mosquitoes ended up as human “public enemy number one”; a pest of our own making perhaps?

Dr Terry Mabbett considers leaf blight & leaf streak of rice and we continue our theme of “the rise of the drones” looking at how they can be used to assess crop vigour in field trials. An overlooked disease is creeping up on UK growers – is there no end to these new pests? And we consider more in-the-field technology with the John Innes Institute’s MARPLE diagnostic platform.

Animal Health brings us a new Foot and Mouth vaccine, developed for use worldwide by a collaboration between several UK research institutions. Contrast that with the 5 million pigs lost to Asia’s swine fever outbreak which has had a devastating impact on small farmers throughout the region.

Finally, forestry – we continue with the second of Dr Terry Mabbett’s series on Oak Processionary Moth while fellow Technical Consultant Prof Graham Matthews considers the best application methods for control of the pest.

Next issue we will be focusing on weeds, so, if you have something to say about weed control, the herbicides we use, their long-term future or alternative control measures, please put your thoughts in an article and send them in!

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

Contents International Pest Control September/October 2019
Volume 61, Number 5.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS IN BRIEF

Could graphene-lined clothing help prevent mosquito bites?
CABI and ÉLÉPHANT VERT fight crop-destroying locusts.
Affordable precision soil map.
Bayer’s first ever Agriculture and Innovation Showcase.
Bayer launches fungicide.
Dogs to detect citrus canker.
…And finally…Conflicted green vegans?
…And finally, finally…Feed your dogs insects rather than steak.
Company news
- Bayer to sell its Animal Health business unit to Elanco.
- M2i Life Sciences completes fundraising of 60 million Euros.
- Farming conference appoints new directors.
- Sale of Acheta Consulting to Kiwa.
- Real IPM Kenya awarded grant.
- Koppert partners with Nitrasoil in Argentina.
- New beneficials packaging from Biobest.

COMPANY PROFILE

Corbion…read more

SPECIAL FEATURE – Biopesticides.

Introducing biopesticides into integrated pest management – Graham Matthews.
Biorationals in the field – towards solutions – Jan Mostert.
Biopesticides from marine worms – the way to go? – Håkan S. Andersson, Ulf Göransson & Erik Jacobsson.
Growing for the future: the future is here – Pedro Juan.

Focus on PUBLIC HEALTH

Necrobia rufipes, a growing problem for pet food industry – Chiara Piombo & Marco Caimi.
Natural enemies close in on fire ants – Sandra Avant.
Mosquitoes: a consequential pest of human behaviour – Partho Dhang, PhD.

Focus on AGRICULTURE

Bacterial leaf blight and leaf streak diseases of rice – Dr Terry Mabbett.
Crop assessment project proves drone accuracy – School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide.
Overlooked soil-borne disease set to hit UK wheat – Dr Terry Mabbett.
MARPLE (Mobile And Real-time PLant disEase) platform – John Innes Centre.