INTERNATIONAL
CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Website: www.icarda.cgiar.org
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
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| Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (center), Director General of ICARDA; Prof. Dr Bruce L. Parker from the University of Vermont, USA; and Dr Wafa Khoury, Vice President of the Arab Society for Plant Protection, made opening statements. |
The conference, which attracted over 130 participants, featured 50 oral presentations and 30 poster sessions on a variety of topics including the socioeconomics of Sunn pest; integrated management, including chemical, biological and host resistance options; and biology and ecology of Sunn pest.
Welcoming the participants at the opening session, the ICARDA Director General, Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, said that wheat is a major food crop in Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA), but the region is not able to produce enough to meet the rising demand. Biotic stresses, including Sunn pest, and abiotic stresses seriously reduce wheat yields. He said that Sunn pest infestation can cause up to 100% yield losses and affect over 15 million hectares of wheat annually. He called for increased use of multi-dimensional integrated pest management (IMP) approaches to control Sunn pest, instead of the prevailing insecticide-based strategies, which are detrimental to the environment. "Developing effective control of this pest would certainly contribute to increasing food production in the region and other parts of the world and to improved livelihoods for the rural poor," Dr El-Beltagy said.
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| Participants of the Second International Conference on Sunn Pest, held at ICARDA, 19-22 July. |
Prof. Dr Bruce L. Parker from the University of Vermont, USA, said the conference offered scientists and managers an opportunity to explore strategies to control Sunn pest. He emphasized that Sunn pest control could only be achieved through collaborative efforts involving farmers, researchers, and policy makers. Dr Wafa Khoury, Vice President of ASPP, called for the involvement of community organizations and local people to ensure success of the Sunn pest control efforts.
On the second day of the conference, participants took a tour of ICARDA facilities to get acquainted with the work of the Center. They visited the biotechnology laboratory, the genetic resources unit, the sheep unit, IPM and cereal quality laboratory. At each facility they had engaging discussions with ICARDA scientists.
Sunn pest is a major insect pest of barley and wheat. It is most prevalent in Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, and Turkey and in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The First International Conference on Sunn pest was held at ICARDA headquarters in 1992.
The importance of this insect has increased over the last decade as evidenced by the larger areas of wheat and barley affected, its spread to new regions, the losses incurred, and the enormous amount of resources spent for its control.
However, research findings presented and discussed during the conference showed various possibilities for the development and implementation of sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) practices. These could be based on safeguarding the complex of natural enemies that occur in all regions, the use of insect-killing fungi, host plant resistance, cultural practices, and the selective use of pesticides. This would reduce costs for farmers and national economies and significantly reduce environmental and health problems.
While great progress has been made, several issues were also identified as priorities to further enhance the implementation of effective and environmentally sound approaches to the IPM of Sunn pest. Significant investment in both research and outreach activities must be made through regional approaches, and encouraging international collaboration. Because insects do not recognize country borders, a regional strategy is critical to successfully reduce the impact of Sunn pest on food security. The ultimate goal is to maintain Sunn pest populations at low levels using multiple tactics in a coordinated program. The following specific priorities were identified to achieve this goal:
1. Encourage governmental policy changes to promote reduced pesticide use in terms of total active ingredient per hectare.
2. Support outreach activities to educate farmers on Sunn pest IPM.
3. Develop standard procedures for Sunn pest population and damage sampling and establishing economic threshold levels.
4. Promote farmer participation in field monitoring to effectively utilize established economic thresholds and IPM options.
5. Conduct research to fully evaluate biological and mechanical controls and design mechanisms for their adoption by farmers.
About
ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org)
serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil,
and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management
of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants
(sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In
the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible
for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage
legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of
the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
(www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance
of 62 members and 16 Future Harvest Centers that mobilizes cutting-edge
science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty,
improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.