O r g a n i z a t i o n s
CIBC
The Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control (CIBC) is one Institute of the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International (CABI). CABI is an intergovernmental not-for-profit organization which provides information, scientific and development services throughout the world. CIBC provides advice and information on biological control of insect pests and weeds and undertakes research and coordinates projects in integrated pest management. The Institute is equipped with intermediate quarantine facilities for screening of biological control agents being moved between countries. CIBC publishes Biocontrol News and Information, a quarterly journal of abstracts from journal articles, books, conferences and reports. Subjects covered include: crop pests, forestry pests, medical and veterinary pests, weeds, integrated control, techniques, taxonomy and catalogues, biology, ecology.
CIBC Publications
Natural Enemy Databank 1987: A catalogue of natural enemies of arthropods derived from records on the CIBC Natural Enemy Databank, Compiled by J. M. Fry. The first of a series of printed volume contains records of natural enemies (parasitoids, hyperparasitoids, predators and pathogens) of arthropods (mainly pests) taken from the literature abstracted by CABI in 1987, as well as other sources of information, such as CIBC unpublished reports and data. The Natural Enemy Databank 1987 includes an explanation of how to use the book in English, French and Spanish; records extracted from the databank, arranged by host with natural enemies; a cross-reference to CABI abstract journals: Biocontrol News and Information, Review of Agricultural Entomology or Review of Medical and Veterinary Entomology; a bibliography of unpublished reports and data and an index to natural enemies, hosts and synonyms. Price including postage £17.5 UK, US $32.75 Americas only.
For more information write:
CAB International Wallingford Oxon OX 10 8DE, UK.
Telex: 847964 (COMAGG G) Fax: (0491) 33508
IITA and Biocontrol
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is an autonomous, nonprofit corporation which belongs to the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research. The Africa-wide Biological Control Project (ABCP) has been responsible for carrying out IITAÕs efforts to control the cassava mealybug and green spider mites. Natural enemies have been bred and released with good results. (See Ag-Sieve Vol I #2 for article on this project). IITA seeks to develop alternatives to shifting cultivation that will maintain the productivity of the land under continuous cultivation in the humid and subhumid tropics; to develop higher yielding pest and disease resistant varieties of cowpeas, yams and sweet potatoes worldwide, and of maize, rice, cassava and soybeans in Africa, and to strengthen national agricultural research systems by a comprehensive training program and collaborative research.
For more information contact:
H.R. Herren, Biological Control Programme Leader
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture,
Oyo Road, PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria
Bio-Integral Resource Center
The Bio- Integral Resource Center (BIRC) is a California-based clearinghouse for interational biologincal pest control. Helga anf William Olowski formed BIRC in 1979 to bring information on biological pest control out of obscrue scientific journals and technical press and make it available to the public. BIRC has established information exchange programs with pest management specialists in dozens of countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South and Central America. The China program is a cornerstone of their interantional documentation and information exchange effort. Coordinated by Professor Anghe Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Agriculture and Forestry in Beijing, it maintains contact with over 100 Chinese institutions (see below). Two of BIRC's publications are: The Common Sense Pest Control Quarterly, intended to respond to many common pest control questions, and The IPM Practitioner. The latter, BIRC's main medium of communication, is a 28-page newsletter published ten times a year. Regular topics covered in the IPM Practitioner include updates on IPM news, notes form conferences, highlights from journals, research reports, book reviews and upcoming events. Each issue also includes an especially useful Products and Services Directory. A subscription to the IPM Practitioner is one of the benefits of membership in BIRC which also includes answering pest management questions and searching for pertinent information.
BIRC recently published a new edition of What is IPM?--an eight-page publication for anyone interested in studying IPM or setting up a program. Another noteworthy publication from BIRC is the Least-Toxic Pest Management Publication Catalogue, a twelve-page catalogue describing BIRC's membership program and listing the many reports, books, technical manuals and audio-visual materials available from BIRC.
BIRC Gathers Parasite Information from China
The Chinese mass-produce 44 natural enemies of various crop pests (not including microbes) and rear many others in smaller cultures. These include five Trichogramma< species, threeChrysopa< lacewing species, two entomogenous nematodes, and many parasitoids--several of which are not yet reared en masse in the US. Fungal insecticides are also produced in China.Beauveria bassiana< strains have been identified and are in wide use against corn borers, leafhoppers, cutworms and leaf beetlse.
The Chinese approach is distinct in its deliberate incorporation of general predators, such as spiders and mantids, into pest management programs. One of the advantages of the approach is that farmers can implement it with minimal external input. In addition to spiders and mantids, the Chinese skillfully employ generalists such as ducks, frogs and various bird species.
Write to BIRC for details at:
Bio-Integral Resource Center
P.O. Box 7414, Berkeley, CA 94707 USA
Tel: (415) 524-2567
ICIPE
In 1970, Dr. Thomas Odhiambo founded the International Centre for Insect Phsyiology and Ecology, the only international research center exclusively dedicated to research on arthropods. ICIPE has grown during the last 20 years from a 3-person, garage-based operation, into a world class scientific organization with a staff of over 50 senior scientists. Based in Kenya, its headquarters are near Nairobi, with a major field station on the shore of Lake Victoria.
A high priority at ICIPE is the adaptation and enhancement of biological pest control methods for African farmers. ICIPE has implemented this mandate through its four main research foci: the Crop Pests Research Program, the Livestock Ticks Research Program, the Tsetse Research Program and the Medical Vectors Research Program. Through these programs ICIPEÕs scientistÕs are taking on some of the most difficult challenges facing farmers and herders in tropical Africa.
The Center has shifted from an initial investment in basic research to a more applied methodology which seeks to implement/adapt new discoveries of pest behavior into practical, low cost control technologies.
A good example is the development of improved tsetse fly traps. Wherever the tsetse lives, livestock as well as humans are in danger of contracting trypanosomiasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by the tsetse fly (Glossinia sp.). Typically, the only way to eradicate the fly from infested ragions has been to dessimate the dense bush and wild game which are itÕs preferred habitat and host. ICIPE has developed a simple, low-cost trap (using a plastic bag, a piece of cloth and cattle urine as the lure) which can reduce fly populations by as much as 50% over infested areas ICIPE has been field testing the new traps among the Masai - traditional nomadic livestock herders - in KenyaÕs Rift Valley province.
Training and Information Dissemination
Dr. Eleiud Omolo heads Ôthe PESTNETÕ program, within ICIPEÕs African Regional Pest Management Research and Development Network. This program works to bridge the many information gaps across Africa in pest management by convening regional symposia for the exchange and dissemination of research findings on key aspects of integrated pest management appropriate to the continent.
Contact: Dr. Eleiud Omolo
Program Coordinator, PESTNET
ICIPE P.O. Box 30772, Nairobi, KENYA
Telex: 22053 Fax: (254-2)803360
UN/FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN considers biological control a vital component of its Integrated Pest Mangement Program. While the utilization of exotic predators and parasitoids for the control of pests in agriculture is promoted by FAO, the Organization actively develops IPM programs that enhance the role of indigenous natural enemies in maintaining pest populations below economic threshold levels. It also promotes biological control of weeds and, more recently, of plant pathogens. FAO activities in biological control comprise surveys, exchange, evaluational utilization of biological control agents, a training program in biological control and establishment of guidelines for the introduction of potential bio-control agents.
For more information contact:
Dr. Sebastian Barbosa, IPM Specialist
FAO-UN, Via delle Terme di Caracalla
00100, Rome ITALY
Telex: 610181 FAO 1, Fax: 5782610/5793162