International Pest Control – May/June 2023 – Vol 65, Nr.3

IPCadmin | June 11, 2023

COVER IMAGE: Fall armyworm is a major threat to the majority of Africa’s maize crops.
Picture by CABI

Europeans could get away with using 71% less land to grow our food if we reduce our consumption of animal products by 50% according to the latest research from WUR. Milk and fish would still be on the menu but beef and pork would disappear. And climate change – about which we have a new section in this issue – may force these changes upon us as we try to feed a population from a much smaller arable land area as climate change renders previously productive areas unsuitable for agriculture.

Glyphosate has been implicated in negative effects on endophytic microbes associated with garden strawberries. Some of the pathways pesticides target are not just found in the target organism but also more widely in nature, in this case one that impacts the synthesis of amino acids and is found in both plants and microbes. Our “Bug of the Issue” is the common house fly, a worldwide pest and vector of multiple diseases. Our Technical Consultant Alex Wade outlines its biology and its lifecycle.

Prof Graham Matthews another IPC Technical Consultant reports from the UK AAB meeting on “Regenerative Agriculture”, which links into the WUR report and considers new strategies such as ‘mob grazing’, maintaining soil cover, minimising soil disturbance and improved rotation. Put together these factors could deliver a 15% improvement in soil heath across Europe. And Dr Partho Dhang, also on the IPC Technical Consulting team reports from the 14th Pacific Rim Termite Research Group. An extensive programme which included a trip to a termite trial site. We also carry a short report from the UK’s PPC Live held in Harrogate, Yorkshire and run by the British Pest Control Association.

In Company News more investment is being made into drone companies, the run of mergers, acquisitions and strategic partnerships continues, and Bayer announces a €60m investment in its Ukraine seed production site. While new products and registrations have been announced by IGEBA, BASF, Mosquitter and Certis Belchim.

Our special feature this issue is Invasive Pests and their Control and we could have filled the whole issue with articles. We start with a review of Phytophthora pluvialis by Dr Terry Mabbett, IPC Technical Consultant, but inevitably include FAW before moving on to the Asian hornet, a review of the impact of climate change on the success of invasive species by Dr Partho Dhang, emergency action by the EPA, more on FAW, and finally we look at the role of pest detection, surveillance, and control systems. We could have published much more; invasive species are a significant threat to agriculture, the fabric of buildings and human health.

In our Public Health section we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organization with three articles linked to its activities. As might be expected the large international organisation is not without its critics but some of the milestones it has achieved over its 75 years are to be applauded and we must all strive to support its science-based response to the world’s health.

In Agriculture we encounter some novel approaches to pest control including the use of mRNA against the Colorado potato beetle. New for this issue is a section on Climate Change because this is becoming critical to the spread of pests and diseases. It will be a regular for the future if not appearing in every issue.

Finally our next issue has a special feature on Environmental Health – Home and Away, so if you have an article that would fit that, or any of our regular topics please do send it in.

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

Contents International Pest Control May/June 2023
Volume 65, Number 3.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

EU’s circular food system could need 71% less land
Glyphosate negatively affects beneficial microbes
5,000 coconut palms to tackle coconut shortage
USA: Wood boring pests on packaging materials
The dark cost of being toxic

BUG OF THE ISSUE

House fly

ASSOCIATION & SOCIETY NEWS

Regenerative agriculture – opportunities and challenges
14th Pacific Rim Termite Research Group (PRTRG) Conference
European Vertebrate Pest Management Conference
NPMA AND MANRRS Sign Memorandum of Understanding
Pest industry out in force for PPC Live 2023
WBF Research Foundation launches Global Microbial Consortium
30 years of PestTech

COMPANY NEWS

Wingtra lands $22M funding
Nichino Europe aquires Interagro (UK)
Australia registers BLUEFUME™ as structural fumigation option
JT EATON™ acquires ClimbUp®
PacBio and Corteva Agriscience collaboration
Bayer to invest €60m in its Ukrainian seed production site
BASF’s Selontra® – the only rodenticide suitable for targeting field mice
Mosqitter joins South American market
Orkin expands with the acquisition of Vermatech
Syngenta and Biotalys enter into strategic partnership
Vegas Plus® registered in Belgium and UK
IGEBA launch a new carburettor design