May 2005

Pesticide Potpourri

  • The Pesticide Information Office collaborates with other related groups, such as IPM Florida (http://ipm.ifas.ufl.edu), which is located in the Entomology and Nematology Department. IPM Florida and the PIO promote responsible use of pesticides, which in turn may minimize risks to health and the environment. The mission of IPM Florida is to provide statewide, interdisciplinary and inter-unit coordination and assistance in IPM (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN502). IPM Florida’s website provides useful information in training and funding as well as employment and events.
  • wpdoc17.gifA number of activist organizations have recently launched a campaign to request that big box retailers such as Home Depot and Lowe’s sell “a full range of organic, nontoxic lawn care products..” arguing that reducing exposure reduces potential effects. The group stated that lawn and garden pesticides account for 90 million of the 213 million pounds of non-agricultural pesticides used each year. The groups also announced the formation of a new group entitled National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns, which would educate stakeholders about non-chemical alternatives. They also want the retailers to reconsider the sale of weed and feed products (Chemical Regulation Reporter, 4/18/05).
  • The U.S.A. remains firmly opposed to developing Codex food labeling guidelines that deal with the method of production (e.g. bioengineered crops). This issue has tabled unified guideline promulgation out of the Codex Committee on Food Labeling (CCFL) for a decade. “The United States believes that if there continues to be a lack of consensus on method of production labeling of foods derived from modern biotechnology, work on this aspect should be discontinued or suspended. Further, that if the lack of consensus on method of production labeling holds up progress on end-use labeling, CCFL should recommend to the Codex Alimentarius Commission that all work on biotech labeling should be discontinued or suspended.” (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 4/18/05).
  • wpdoc18.gifPlants under attack by arthropod herbivores often emit volatile compounds from their leaves that attract natural enemies of the herbivores. Recently, the first identification of an insect-induced belowground plant signal, (E)- caryophyllene was reported, which strongly attracts an entomopathogenic nematode. Maize roots release this sesquiterpene in response to feeding by larvae of the beetle Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, a maize pest that is currently invading Europe. Most North American maize lines do not release (E)-caryophyllene, whereas European lines and the wild maize ancestor, teosinte, readily do so in response to D. v. virgifera attack. This difference was consistent with striking differences in the attractiveness of representative lines in the laboratory. Field experiments showed a fivefold higher nematode infection rate of D. v. virgifera larvae on a maize variety that produces the signal than on a variety that does not, whereas spiking the soil near the latter variety with (E)-caryophyllene decreased the emergence of adult D. v. virgifera to less than half. North American maize lines must have lost the signal during the breeding process. Development of new varieties that release the attractant in adequate amounts should help enhance the efficacy of nematodes as biological control agents against root pests like D. v. virgifera. (Nature, 4/7/05).
  • wpdoc19.gifPeople who pack fresh citrus fruit on the Treasure Coast see hundreds, possibly thousands, of imperfect grapefruit in a typical day. Now citrus industry officials and the FDACS are asking those workers to consider joining the hunt for citrus canker as this season's abbreviated packing season comes to an end. George Hamner, who heads Indian River Exchange Packers Inc. in Vero Beach and chairs the Citrus Canker Task Force Advisory Technical Committee, was quoted as saying, "We have a hot spot of citrus canker along the Treasure Coast. As the packinghouses close down, we can use the people out of the packinghouses to work as surveyors. They are used to looking at blemishes." The FDACS has agreed to recruit surveyors from within the citrus industry, said Doug Bournique, executive vice president of the Indian River Citrus League in Vero Beach. The 40-hour-a-week jobs pay $9.12 an hour plus time-and-a-half for overtime. Paid training is provided. Industry workers know how to spot citrus diseases but would undergo more training to identify canker, Hamner said. (The Palm Beach Post, 4/12/05).
  • A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has revealed that inspections and interceptions have declined since USDA moved inspectors to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in March of 2003. In 2002, 2003, and 2004, there were 40.9, 35.0 and 37.5 million inspections, respectively, at a time when agricultural imports were increasing. At one port, inspections were cut by more than 50 percent in late 2004, from 1,200 containers a week to 500 per week. Among the reasons for this are personnel shortage (over 400 inspectors jobs available), lengthy background checks, and taking inspectors off their job to help with long immigration lines at airports. GAO urged DHS and USDA to fix the problem. (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 4/18/05).
  • Johannesburg Water spokesman Jameel Chand was cited as saying in early April that Johannesburg will crack down on subsistence farmers on the outskirts of the city who, by blocking sewage pipes to irrigate their crops, are threatening disease outbreaks. Chand explained that farmers lift manhole covers, use rubble and boulders to block the pipes and divert raw sewage to maize and vegetable crops, hoping it will provide the crops with much-needed nutrients and water, adding, "We're very worried. If that gets into a stream, you're talking cholera. Even without that, with pools of raw sewage you end up with other diseases. We're talking about whatever people flush down the toilet." (Reuters, 4/7/05).

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