International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection

CRICHTONA — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:07:04 +0000

The 10th International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection (IWCSPP) was held in Estoril, Portugal, from 27 June to 2 July 2010. This round of IWCSPP attracted nearly 300 delegates representing countries around the globe where stored products protection is an ongoing issue. The conference included eight scientific sessions, seven workshops and 92 posters.

The delegates were welcomed with a session on overviews of stored products research across the continents, where Dr Pat Collins, the Leader of Post-harvest Integrity Program of the CRCNPB, represented Australia. This was an interesting session, which revealed that in recent years there has been significant disinvestment by governments globally in the area of stored products research.

Europe has been the worst-hit, whilst substantial funding is still available for research in countries like Australia and the USA, who are at the forefront in this research area. In the USA, currently the research is focused on pest biology, ecology, monitoring and management in small-scale storages including the flour mills; whereas in Australia the focus is on applied research including pest management in bulk storages.

Among a strong contingent of scientists from Australia, Dr Manoj Nayak represented the CRCNPB and delivered an oral presentation titled ‘Developing strategies to manage highly phosphine resistant populations of flat grain beetles in large bulk storages’. The talk was well received by the international delegates and led to further discussions with scientists from Canada, China and the USA, where this pest has either been established as a major problem or emerging as a new problem.

Papers presented at the conference covered a range of topics including biology, ecology, chemical treatments, alternatives to conventional pesticides and fumigants, non-chemical control methods, pest detection methods, quarantine and regulations in relation to export of commodities.

Dr Nayak found the fumigation session the most relevant to the research he undertakes for the CRCNPB. This session had 20 oral presentations, which included a keynote by Dr Emecki regarding fumigants for commodity protection.

Dr Nayak attended only two of the seven workshops, as some ran concurrently while others were not relevant. Both workshops he did attend focused on analysis of stored-product insect monitoring data and ecological data (movement, distribution etc.). The workshops generated excellent interaction with leading researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), CRCNPB and Canada, where different trapping methods and the critical analysis of the trapping data and decision-making processes were discussed.

Dr Nayak also joined an international research group involving researchers from USA, Czech Republic, Croatia and China aimed at developing molecular diagnostics for identification of stored product psocids around the world. The research will commence from October 2010.

International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection

CRICHTONA — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 03:07:11 +0000

The 10th International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection was held in Estoril, Portugal from 27 June to 2 July 2010, under the auspices of the Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical and the Instituto Superior de Agronomia in Lisbon, Portugal.

The aim of the conference was to exchange information on storage from a wide range of agricultural and economic settings, ranging from small farms to large commercial bulk storage and from tropical to temperate climates, and to present innovative solutions to storage problems that are effective, inexpensive, and environmental friendly. The organisers hoped that this conference would help to improve food availability and quality around the world.

Mr Robert Emery attended the working conference and presented on the development and use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and how they were used to support, audit and validate the eradication of the 2007 khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium) post-border detection in Western Australia. Robert’s paper was entitled The use of hand-held computers to audit and validate eradication of a post-border detection of khapra beetle in Western Australia.

Robert’s conference paper focused on the development of pest surveillance data collection software and hardware using PDAs to provide auditing, validation, chain of evidence and increase the volume of data collected as well as its integrity through relational databases and seamless data transfer to corporate systems. The system’s first deployment was during a Trogoderma granarium eradication.

The conference program covered the following topics:

around the world – an overview of different regions, reviews of past, present and future directions of research in different regions of the world
biology and monitoring – insects and mites biology, physiology, ecology, modeling and trapping
engineering – grain drying, handling, aeration and chilled air
fumigation – MA, SF, MB, PH3, other gases and resistance
microbiology and mycotoxins – moulds, control of moulds, mycotoxins, contamination and food safety
non- chemical control – biological control, extreme temperatures and organic pest control
residual insecticides – residual insecticides, DE, plant extracts and resistance
integrated pest management practices – methods to prevent, monitor and control pests in warehouses, processing facilities and museums, and
quarantine and regulatory – quarantine pests, control programs, MB alternatives in quarantine, wood packaging and registration of new pesticides.

As part of the conference Robert also attended a field trip visit to Companhia das Lezírias and the Orivárzea Rice Plant (Benavente), which was still partly under construction. Companhia das Lezírias is a state-run agriculture and forestry company located in the Lezíria do Tejo subregion. The company is an ecological sanctuary and peri urban farming area, near Grande Lisboa subregion - the most populated subregion of Portugal. The company produces rice, wine, cork, and livestock, as well as being a reputed horse breeder.

The International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection brought together close to 500 delegates from 27 countries, which provided an excellent opportunity to forge collaborative ties with a range of scientists, consultants, extension workers and industry, who are involved in the safe storage of the world's durable food commodities such as grains, legumes, spices, dried fruits, herbs and animal feed; and non food products such as museum artefacts and wood.

CRC for Plant Biosecurity - T. granarium

International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection

International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection