International Pest Control – September/October 2023 – Vol 65, Nr.5

IPCadmin | September 29, 2023

COVER IMAGE: Culex sp. — an important vector of disease. .
Picture by Barrettine Ltd

“In a world of plenty, it is outrageous that people continue to suffer and die from hunger. Starving food systems of investment means, quite literally, starving people.” UN Secretary General António Guterres’ words, opening the UN Food Systems Summit.

In September 2015 the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were adopted and December 2015 saw the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. 2015 was a landmark year for multilateralism; a world away from today’s international climate. The second SDG is “Zero Hunger”, the third is “Good health and well-being”; to be achieved, like all the SDGs, by 2030. In 2023 we are being warned that far from being on target to achieve the goals, an additional 122 million people are facing hunger since 2019 and, in 2022, 148 million children under five were “stunted”.

The pest control industry has an important role to play in helping the world meet these two goals as well as SDG 15 “Life on Land – Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.” Both agriculture and pest control activities can contribute to Goal 13 “Climate Action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”.

Our “Bug of the Issue” is the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum; one of many pests that can render stored food unsuitable for human consumption and a pest of almost all stored products from cereals to beans. (SDG 2)

We report on the activities of the World Bioprotection Forum, lobbying for a new product registration system adapted to biopesticides which are needed to replace the many agrochemicals withdrawn because of their negative environmental impact or no longer effective due to resistance. (SDG 15)

Association and Society News also includes a report on Dengue (SDG 3) in the region covered by FAOPMA; this is a viral disease that is on the increase worldwide and climate change (SDG 13) is contributing to its spread.

The company section is a mix of acquisitions, trading reports (glyphosate sales are down at Bayer), innovation, collaboration, new products, new facilities, and partnerships.

The novIGRain team reports on the project to reduce stored pest losses – critical to achieving SDG2 – and work to overcome resistance to a wide range of products traditionally used to protect stored products. Data collected so far suggests that the highest number of resistant populations has been recorded in the lesser grain borer (Rhyzopertha dom inica), the confused flour beetle (Tribolium confusum), and the rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae).

Our special feature on invertebrate pest management includes articles on the use of new LED technology, innovative biopesticides made from seed meal from mustard plants, and from the mraemrah tree, garlic and hot pepper, boosting the effectiveness of predators by improving their nutrition and a physical knock-down method for mosquitoes. Not a synthetic chemical in sight! (SDG 15)

Other articles in this issue include the safe use of drones for application, agriculture’s impact on air pollution in the UK, using a moth to control an invasive fern in the USA, suppressing black thread in rubber plantations and a review of a new book “Advances in monitoring of native and invasive insect pests of crops.”

There is no shortage of articles in this issue which report on activities that support the SDGs relevant to our sector. In our next issue we will focus on developments in greenhouse pest control, but we also welcome articles relevant to our regular sections.

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