In this issue:
Vegetable Industry
in Tropical Asia
"The Vegetable Industry in
Tropical Asia. Explorations No. 1: An overview of production and trade,
with a focus on India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and
Vietnam" is the title of a new publication by Johnson, G I, K
Weinberger, and M H Wu. 2008. It was published in 2008 by AVRDC and has
54 pages with additional country reports. It may be downloaded from
http://www.avrdc.org/publications/socio/veg_industry/index.html
.
Publication of the First Issue of
"Food Security"
The first issue of "Food
Security" was published online on 23 February 2009. It is an
initiative of ISPP and its Task Force, leading to a joint venture
between ISPP and Springer.
In the words of Dr Norman Borlaug in
the Foreword, "it is intended that the journal will provide a spur
for the initiation and promotion of policies which will co-ordinately
address the spectre of hunger".
There are 12 papers in the first issue,
including the Foreword by Dr Borlaug and an Editorial by Dr Richard
Strange and Dr Peter Scott.
This first online issue is freely
accessible to all. For subsequent issues, selected papers will be freely
available. The first issue will be published in print in March.
While most people will access the
journal through institutional libraries, ISPP Members and Members of
Associated Societies enjoy an important privilege of online access for
EUR 30 per annum. The starting point for this online access is http://www.isppweb.org/about_fs_flyer.asp
or visit SpringerAlerts
on Food Security
Pesticide Legislation before the
European Council
On 13 January 2009, the European
Parliament adopted in second reading a Regulation to replace the current
legislation on plant protection products, based on a Commission proposal
from 2006.
The key points of the Regulation, which
deals with the production and licensing of pesticides, are as follows.
A positive list of approved
"active substances" (the chemical ingredients of pesticides)
is to be drawn up at EU level. Pesticides will then be licensed at
national level on the basis of this list. Certain highly toxic chemicals
will be banned unless exposure to them would in practice be negligible,
namely those which are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction,
those which are endocrine-disrupting, and those which are persistent,
bioaccumulative and toxic or very persistent and very bioaccumulative.
For developmental neurotoxic and immunotoxic substances, higher safety
standards may be imposed. If a substance is needed to combat a serious
danger to plant health, it may be approved for up to five years even if
it does not meet the above safety criteria. Products containing certain
hazardous substances are to be replaced if safer alternatives are shown
to exist. Parliamentarians successfully demanded a shorter deadline for
their replacement, of three years rather than five. Substances likely to
be harmful to honeybees will be outlawed.
The Regulation has to be formally
adopted by the Council, but it could enter into force later this year.
It will only gradually take over from existing EU law. Pesticides that
can be placed on the market under current legislation will remain
available until their existing authorisation expires.
The new legislation is based on an
assessment by the Swedish Chemicals Agency http://www.kemi.se/templates/News____5415.aspx
that around 23 listed substances are likely to be removed from the
market as a result of the new safety criteria. The list includes the
fungicides carbendazim, dinocap, epoxiconazole, flumioxazin, flusilazole,
iprodion, maneb, mancozeb, metconazole, quinoxyfen, tebuconazole.
The Chairman of the British Crop Production Council (BCPC) states that there is an immediate issue with
the list. BCPC is calling on the European Commission to make it
absolutely clear that no "blacklist" exists, and that all
products will be evaluated properly against the provisions of the new
legislation. See a news release at http://www.bcpc.org/
.
CEOC International is a not-for-profit
organisation that represents independent inspection and certification
organisations in 20 European countries. Its mission is to promote
safety, quality and the environment through independent inspection and
certification. Its reporting of the legislation is at http://www.ceoc.com/newsarticle.aspx?NewsId=151
.
The January/February 2009 edition of
IPMnet News also reports on the legislation and its varied comments from
international perspectives may be seen at http://www.ipmnet.org/IPMNews/2009/news168.html
.
ISPP Task Force on Global Food Security
An agreed record of the Meeting of the
ISPP Task Force on Global Food Security held in Torino, Italy on 26
August 2008 within the 9th International Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP)
is now on the ISPP web-site at http://www.isppweb.org/foodsecurity_mins_torino.asp
.
After reviewing the five activities of
the Task Force established at the two previous ICPPs and other meetings
and the substantial advances within each activity, the 2008 meeting
moved on to new initiatives and plans for the future, as shown well in
the record.
Royal Netherlands Society of Plant
Pathology (KNPV)
25 May 2009 is a special day for the
Royal Netherlands Society of Plant Pathology (KNPV). The Society is
celebrating the 40th anniversary of its national journal 'Gewasbescherming',
and will hold its spring meeting "Fast Forward" at the Hof van
Wageningen (WICC) from approximately 9.30-22.00h. See: http://www.knpv.org/en/
.
KNPV founded in 1891 is the oldest
plant pathology society in the world and has currently over 600 members.
The aim of KNPV is to stimulate cooperation and communication between
persons with an interest in plant protection, plant diseases and their
causal organisms. The KNPV is a platform for interaction between persons
involved in crop protection, including education, consultancy, industry,
trade, crop production, policy making and research. These
representatives usually meet in KNPV working groups that address
specific plant diseases. Through grants and sponsoring of events,
national and international co-operation is stimulated.
KNPV's former journal "The
Netherlands Journal of Plant Pathology" was continued in 1994 as
the "European Journal of Plant Pathology (EJPP)", sold to
Kluwer Publishers and subsequently acquired by Springer Publishers. KNPV
is contractually linked to EJPP which is published in cooperation with
the European Foundation for Plant Pathology (EFPP).
PMN with the Royal Netherlands Society
of Plant Pathology
PMN is the Plant Management Network and
it has a PMN partners' program partners@plantmanagementnetwork.org
. PMN is very pleased to announce that the Royal Netherlands Society
of Plant Pathology (KNPV) has become a partner in the network. See the
preceding item about KNPV.
PMN is a not-for-profit, online
publishing effort whose mission is to enhance the health, management and
production of agricultural and horticultural crops. PMN achieves this
mission by developing science-based resources that help researchers,
crop management professionals, consultants, growers, educators and
students make better plant management decisions and recommendations.
PMN http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/
is jointly managed by the American Phytopathological Society, the
American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America, in
conjunction with many other partners, including scientific societies,
agricultural universities and agribusiness.
Pictures sought of Fungal Diseases of
Ornamental Crops
The Belgian Research Center of
Ornamental Crops brings academic knowledge to a practical scale and uses
it to advise breeders and growers. In a project termed 'Durable and
innovative methods of crop protection in ornamentals' the Center plans
to create posters of the most important fungal diseases in ornamentals.
The goal is to show the most important and typical symptoms of the
diseases in pictures and to add a little textual explanation. The
posters should enable growers to identify diseases in their crops at
early stages so that they can take appropriate measures and prevent them
from spreading in the whole crop.
The Center seeks pictures of symptoms
on ornamental crops caused by: Pythium, Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew,
Verticillium, Phytophthora, Fusarium, Cylindrocladium, Rust fungi,
Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia. Pictures of analogous symptoms on
non-ornamental crops are useful if pictures of ornamentals are not
available.
If pictures are supplied with
permission to use them, the Center will send in return a package with
all their posters.
The team "Adviesdienst
Gewasbescherming" ("Crop Protection Advice Service")
comprises Joachim Audenaert, Marc Vissers, Ruth Verhoeven and Bart
Haleydt.
Contact: Joachim Audenaert,
Adviesdienst Gewasbescherming, Proefcentrum voor Sierteelt,
Schaessestraat 18, B-9070 Destelbergen, Belgium. Tel. +32 9 353 94 71;
Fax +32 9 353 94 95. E-mail: joachim.audenaert@pcsierteelt.be
.
See: www.pcsierteelt.be
.
IX International Symposium on
Thysanoptera and Tospoviruses
This symposium will be held in
Queensland, Australia, beginning on 31 August 2009 as listed in
"Coming Events". The proposed session topics are:
Thrips as virus vectors; Tospovirus
molecular biology and diagnostics; Thrips systematics and
identification; Integrated management of thrips as pests and virus
vectors; Epidemiology and control of tospoviruses; Thrips behaviour and
ecology; Host plant resistance against tospoviruses; Thrips-plant
interactions; Tospovirus-plant interactions; Thrips and tospoviruses as
biosecurity threats; Thrips as vectors of other pathogens.
2009 Catalog and some New Titles from
APS Press
The 2009 catalog of material available
from the American Phytopathological Society can be down-loaded from APS
Press. The catalog covers books, journals and multimedia, and lists 48
new and recent titles.
Of special note are five new titles:
"Diseases of Herbaceous
Perennials" by Mark L Gleason, Margery L Daughtrey, Ann R Chase,
Gary W Moorman and Daren S Mueller.
"Taxonomy, Phylogeny, and Ecology
of Bark-Inhabiting and Tree-Pathogenic Fungi in the Cryphonectriaceae"
by Marieka Gryzenhout, Brenda D Wingfield and Michael J Wingfield.
"Compendium of Hop Diseases and
Pests" edited by Walter Mahaffee, Sarah Pethybridge and David H
Gentby.
"Compendium of Beet Diseases and
Pests, Second Edition" edited by Robert M Harveson, Linda E Hanson
and Gary L Hein.
"Virus Diseases of Plants" as
a 2-CD set by O W Barnett. One CD is an Image Database Collection, and
the second CD is of virus diseases of Grapevine, Potato, and Wheat as an
Image Collection and Teaching Resource.
APS Press Online http://www.shopapspress.org/index.html
.
Other means of contacting APS Press:
APS PRESS Customer Service, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, Saint Paul, MN 55121,
USA. Phone toll free in the United States and most of Canada:
1.800.328.7560. Otherwise telephone: +1.651.454.7250; fax:
+1.651.454.0766; or e-mail: aps@scisoc.org
.
ISAAA Video "Q&A with Clive
James"
"Q&A with Clive James"
provides an opportunity to know about the International Service for the
Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), its mission, who funds
it, and its global report on biotech crops in 2008. Dr Clive James also
gives answers to some of the most frequently asked questions on the role
of biotech crops:
How can biotech crops contribute to
more affordable food? How can biotech crops help mitigate problems
associated with climate change? How can biotech crops contribute to
global food security and the alleviation of poverty? How can biotech
crops contribute to sustainability?
Finally, he also shares some important
messages on biotech crops with the global society.
See: www.isaaa.org/Resources/videos/qa_clivejames/default.html
.
For a copy of the video, contact the
ISAAA South Asia office at b.choudhary@cgiar.org
.
Acknowledgements
The editor acknowledges input of
several items from Dr Greg Johnson, Secretary-General of ISPP, towards
this issue.
Coming Events
7th World Potato Congress
"Nourishing Our Future" in Christchurch, New Zealand. 22-25
March 2009. See: http://www.wpcnz.org.nz/
.
Greenhouse 2009: Climate Change and
Resources, in Perth, Western Australia. 23-26 March 2009. See: http://www.greenhouse2009.com
.
International Conference on Plant
Virology to be held at the Harrogate International Center, UK. 1-3 April
2009. See: www.aab.org.uk/contentok.php?id=73&basket=wwsshowconfdets
.
The Second European Ramularia Workshop,
Edinburgh 2009 - a new disease and challenge in Barley Production in
Edinburgh, UK. 7-8 April 2009. See: www.aab.org.uk
.
VI International Postharvest Symposium
in Antalya, Turkey. 8-12 April 2009. Contact: erkan@akdeniz.edu.tr
. See: http://www.postharvest2009.com/
.
Advances in epidemiology and control of
rusts at Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), Edinburgh,
UK. 22-23 April 2009. See: http://www.aab.org.uk/page.php?start=184&conf=78
.
The 5th International Conference on
Biopesticides: Stakeholders' Perspective (ICOB-V 2009) in New Delhi,
India. 26-30 April 2009. Contact: icob5.biopest@nic.in
. See: http://www.icob5.nic.in
.
3rd International Symposium on Crop
Plant Resistance to Biotic and Abiotic Factors: Current Potential and
Future Demands in Berlin, Germany. 14-16 May 2009. Contact: dpg@phytomedizin.org
. See: www.dpg-bcpc-symposium.de
.
Meeting on "Plant Abiotic Stress -
from signaling to development" in Tartu, Estonia. 14-17 May 2009.
Contact: Dr Hannes Kollist inpas@frens.ee
. Phone:
+372-737-4814. See: http://www.ut.ee/inpas/
.
8th International PGPR Workshop in
Portland, Oregon, USA. 17-22 May 2009. See: www.capps.wsu.edu/pgpr
.
Training Program: Integrated Pest
Management and Food Safety in Wageningen, The Netherlands. 18 May-12 Jun
2009. Contact: training.wi@wur.nl
.
"Fast Forward" - the annual
spring meeting of the Royal Netherlands Society of Plant Pathology (KNPV)
in Wageningen, The Netherlands. 25 May 2009. See: http://www.knpv.org/en/
.
14th International Sclerotinia Workshop
in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA. 31 May-4 June 2009. See: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/sclerotinia_conference/index.html
.
SFP National Congress (in French) in
Lyon, France. 8-11 June 2009.
Canadian Phytopathological Society
Annual General Meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 22-25 June 2009.
See: www.cps-scp.ca .
XXIth International Symposium on Virus
and Virus-Like Diseases of Temperate Fruit Crops and XIIth International
Symposium on Small Fruit Virus Diseases in Germany. 5-10 July 2009. See http://www.phytomedizin.org/index.php?id=193
. Source: Professor
Dr Wilhelm Jelkmann Wilhelm.Jelkmann@jki.bund.de
Julius
Khn-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut fr Kulturpflanzen, Institut
fr Pflanzenschutz in Obst- und Weinbau, Schwabenheimer Str. 101, 69221
Dossenheim, Germany.
Plant ROS 2009 in Helsinki, Finland.
8-10 July 2009. Contact: organizers@pog2009.org
. See: www.pog2009.org/.
International Conference on Fungal
Evolution and Charles Darwin: "From Morphology to Molecules"
at the Thailand Science Park, Pathumthani, Thailand. 9-11 July 2009.
See: http://www.biotec.or.th/darwinconf2009
.
14th International Congress on
Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions in Qubec City, Canada. 19-23 July
2009. See: www.ismpminet.org/meetings
.
APS Annual Meeting 2009 at the Portland
Convention Center, Portland, Oregon, USA. 1-5 August 2009. See: http://www.apsnet.org
.
14th Australasian Plant Breeding
Conference and 11th SABRAO Conference in Cairns, North Queensland,
Australia. 10-14 August 2009. See: http://www.plantbreeding09.com.au/
.
IX International Symposium on
Thysanoptera and Tospoviruses at Sea World Resort, Gold Coast,
Queensland, Australia. 31 August-4 September 2009. See: http://www.istt09.org/content/view/13/27/
.
10th International Cotton Conference
"Natural Fibres-Their Attractiveness in Multidirectional
Applications" in Gdynia, Poland. 3-4 September 2009. See: http://www.gca.org.pl/x.php/2,326/10th-International-Cotton
Conference.html .
2nd World Seed Conference
"Responding to the Challenges of the Changing World: The Role of
New Plant Varieties and High Quality Seed in Agriculture" at FAO
headquarters in Rome, Italy. 8-10 September 8-10, 2009. See: http://worldseedconference.org/en/worldseedconference/home.html
.
BSPP Presidential Meeting 2009
"Darwin to Disease; Crops and their pathogens" - Celebrating
Darwin's 200th Birthday - University Museum, Oxford, UK. 22 September
2009. See: http://www.bspp.org.uk/
.
APPS 2009 "Plant Health
Management-An Integrated Approach" at the Civic Precinct,
Newcastle, NSW, Australia. 30 September-2 October 2009. See: http://www.apps2009.org.au/
.
The 13th World Forestry Congress
(Forests in development - a vital balance) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
18-25 October 2009. See http://www.wfc2009.org/index_1024.html
.
E-mail: info@wfc2009.org .
9th International Congress on Plant
Molecular Biology in St Louis, Missouri, USA. 25-30 October 2009.
Contact: ipmb2009@missouri.edu
. See: www.ipmb2009.org .
The 10th Arab Congress of Plant
Protection in Beirut, Lebanon. 26-30 October 2009. See: www.asplantprotection.org
. See also: flyer linked from http://www.isppweb.org/nljan09.asp#2
. Contact: aspp@terra.net.lb
or acpp2009@cnrs.edu.lb .
"First International Conference of
Mycops" in the Institute of Mycology and Plant Pathology,
University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. 9-11 November 2009. Contact:
Professor Dr Rukshana Bajwa director@mpp.pu.edu.pk
or the
Conference Secretary Dr Sarwar Alam drssalam@yahoo.com
.
The 2009 International Conference on
Horticulture in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. 9-12 November 2009. See: http://www.pnasf.org/ich2009.htm
.
5th International Conference on Plant
Pathology, with the theme "Plant pathology in the globalized
era", at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi,
India. 10-13 November 2009. Contact: ipsdis@indiatimes.com
or ipsdis@yahoo.com .
National Soybean Rust Symposium in New
Orleans, Louisiana, USA. 9-11 December 2009. Contact: dorrance.1@osu.edu
.
Global Biosecurity 2010, Safeguarding
Agriculture and the Environment, at the Brisbane Convention Center,
Queensland, Australia. 23 February-3 March 2010. See: www.globalbiosecurity2010.com
.
13th Congress of the Mediterranean
Phytopathological Union in Rome, Italy. 13-18 June 2010. See: www.mpunion.com
. Contact: laura.mugnai@unifi.it
. 12th
IUPAC International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry in Melbourne,
Australia. 4-8 July 2010. See: http://www.iupacicpc2010.org/
.
9th International Mycological Congress
(IMC9) in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. 1-6 August 2010. See: http://www.imc9.info/
.
APS Annual Meeting 2010 at Opryland,
Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 7-11 August 2010. See: http://www.apsnet.org
.
Plant Virus Epidemiology Symposium at
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA. August 2010. See: http://www.isppweb.org/ICPVE/
.
XXVIII International Horticultural
Congress (IHC2010) in Lisbon, Portugal. 22-27 August 2010. Contact:
info@ihc2010.org . See: http://www.ihc2010.org
.
The 8th International Conference on
Pseudomonas syringae and Related Pathogens in Oxford, UK. 31 August-3
September 2010. See: www.reading.ac.uk/Psyringae2010
. Contact: syringae2010@plants.ox.ac.uk
.
The 18th Biennial Australasian Plant
Pathology Meeting and 4th Asian Conference for Plant Pathology, a Joint
Conference, at the Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin, Northern Territory,
Australia. 27-29 April 2011. Watch: http://www.australasianplantpathologysociety.org.au/
.
Joint Meeting of APS and IAPPS in
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. 6-10 August 2011. See: http://www.apsnet.org
.
10th International Congress of Plant
Pathology 2013 (ICPP2013) "Bio-security, Food Safety and Plant
Pathology: The Role of Plant Pathology in a Globalized Economy" in
Beijing, China. 25-31 August 2013. Watch: http://www.isppweb.org/congress.asp
.
