Pesticide Potpourri

•  The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service is testing modified strains of corn that produce N-acetyl hexosaminidase (NAHA) throughout the crop plant's tissues.  In laboratory trials at the ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, IL, 100 percent of newly hatched fall armyworms that ingested NAHA-containing leaf tissue from some of the modified corn plants being studied died within three days.  The degree to which the caterpillars stopped feeding on the modified corn plants depended on how much NAHA the plants actually produced.  Corn earworm larvae, another pest tested, were also adversely affected by NAHA-containing plants.  The research is part of a broader effort at the Center to develop novel ways of shielding corn from mycotoxin contamination, which costs farmers and processors millions of dollars annually in losses.  The Service considers NAHA a promising defense for corn because it occurs in foods eaten by humans, such as cabbage and apple, and it targets chitin, a key component of insects but not of humans or other animals.  (ARS, 2/22/07). 

•  Giant ragweed officially has been named the seventh glyphosate-resistant weed in the U.S.  The populations from which the resistant plants were taken resided in Ohio and Illinois.  Researchers from the land grant institutions of those states expect the problem to spread drastically in 2007, possibly by tenfold (http://agcrops.osu.edu/weeds).  (Citrus & Vegetable Magazine, February 2007). 

•  Work done by UF/IFAS researcher Dr. T. Hymowitz and others on soybean rust resistance has resulted in soybeans which show some measure of resistance to the disease.  By crossing conventional soybeans with a wild perennial soybean (Glycine tomentella), a hybrid clone was produced that had resistance to the rust.  Work continues on vectoring the resistance genes into Glycine max.  (Crop Breeding & Genetics, 47:158-161). 

•  Dupont has submitted registration materials in the U.S. and other countries regarding their new insecticide rynaxypyr which has low mammalian toxicity.  The compound works through a novel process, targeting a receptor in insects to release stored calcium.  This results in rapid muscle failure, leading to paralysis and death for pests within 72 hours.  Dupont plans to sell the material under the names Coragen and Altacor.  Additionally, Syngenta has an exclusive worldwide license to develop rynaxypyr in mixtures with its own insect control materials.  Dupont also touts this as a replacement for methomyl in strawberry.  (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 2/5/07).  

•  And in news similar to the above, Dupont has reached an agreement with Valent U.S.A. to access flumioxazin for use in Dupont-branded combination herbicide products for soybeans.  Both companies believe flumioxazin and sulfonylureas have the potential to manage glyphosate tolerant weeds. (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 2/19/07).

•  A new brochure describing the results of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) mosquito control program used at Parrot Jungle Island in Miami, Florida, is available online at http://tropicaldesigns.com/ipm.htm.  The Parrot Jungle Island project received a Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP) grant in 2005 that allowed for sampling and identification of mosquito species in the park and testing of biochemicals for mosquito control.  The Director of Horticulture’s methodology included rigorous testing of water sources in the park to identify the status and species of mosquito populations and to monitor the control. By September 2005, fogging of the park targeting adult mosquitoes became unnecessary due to successful efforts to control larval populations, thereby saving over $7,000 annually in pesticide application costs and greatly reducing exposure to pesticides.  (EPA OPP Update, 3/2/07). 

•  As reported in November’s Chemically Speaking, the EPA’s decision to finalize its rule regarding pesticide use over certain sites is still sparking controversy.  Both industry and activist groups have filed lawsuits in 10 different federal appellate circuits challenging the rule.  Interestingly, similar lawsuits used to be consolidated in the circuit court where the first one was filed (the 9th in this case).  However, this is now done randomly, so by filing in multiple courts, industry has a better chance than in the 9th circuit.  (NAAA, March/April, 2007). 

•  In mid-February, the executive director of the Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Program said that the cotton boll weevil population has been reduced by at least 99 percent since the effort began ten years ago and that the insect should be all but eliminated from Arkansas cotton fields in two years.  The director was further cited as saying the eradication program, combined with heartier cotton varieties and more acreage planted in cotton, has made for record improvements.  In 1998 - the year before Arkansas' eradication program began - Arkansas cotton fields yielded 645 pounds per acre.  That per acre figure was 1,076 pounds in 2006.  Arkansas' highest yield ever was in 2004 - 1,114 pounds per acre.  (AP, 2/13/07). 

•  No significant differences on species abundance and dynamics of ground-dwelling arthropod species were found when Bt and non-Bt cotton was used. The three year study conducted in growers’ fields in Georgia, using standard practices, was done to provide information to help address the concern that the reduced insecticide use in transgenic cotton varieties may exert a variety of effects on ground-dwelling predator communities.  Sixty-five taxa represented by 38,980 ground-dwelling arthropods (carabids, cicindelines, staphylinids, dermapterans, heteropterans and araneids) that are important for cotton pest management were recorded in the survey.  The arthropods were collected using pitfall traps placed at the site and were collected each week during the study.  Except for one carabid, no other predatory ground-dwelling taxa were found unique to a cotton genotype or year. (CropBiotech Update, 2/16/07). 

•  The southeast Idaho potato grower whose land was quarantined after the discovery of a nematode last spring has two years to file a lawsuit against the Idaho State Department of Agriculture after that agency did not respond to a $4 million tort claim.  A tort claim is a precursor to a lawsuit against a government entity.  Walker Produce Co. filed the tort claim last October after it said it was publicly identified as the source of the potato cyst nematode infestation, which the company contends led to damage of its reputation and a lawsuit from at least one of its customers.  Keith Walker, president of Walker Produce, was quoted as telling the Post Register that, “I don't think it's going to be possible to ever fully recover from this.”  Idaho is the nation's largest potato producer, growing about one-third of all the potatoes in the United States.  In 2005, the state produced 12.5 billion pounds of potatoes worth about $700 million to farmers.  After the initial discovery of the nematode in April, Japan banned all fresh U.S. potato imports, and Canada and Mexico banned all fresh potato imports from Idaho.  (Times-News, 2/25/07). 

•  Termites are a major pest especially for Florida homes and buildings, but UF/IFAS researchers say the wood-chomping insects might help in the search for alternatives to fossil fuels such as gasoline.  UF scientists published a report recently in the journal Gene that advances the understanding of how termites digest the tough part of wood known as cellulose.  Termites break cellulose down into a form of sugar, and insight into how that's done could help develop alternative fuels.  The study identified four genes that produce enzymes that help take cellulose molecules apart, one gene in the eastern subterranean termite and three that belong to microscopic organisms that live inside the termite's digestive tract.  The potential payoff down the road could be a method to produce ethanol more cheaply and abundantly.  Michael Scharf, a co-author of the study, said the research also might help unlock ways to control termites.  (CheckBiotech, 3/2/07). 

•  There may be unapproved genetically modified material in a type of long grain rice seed produced by the BASF Corporation and the USDA has issued a “hold” order on distributing or planting while tests are conducted.  A USDA spokeswoman was cited as saying on March 5 that farmers may have already begun 2007 planting, so a small amount of BASF's Clearfield CL131 - the rice seed in question - may already be in the ground.  Ron DeHaven, director of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, was cited as saying in a prepared statement that the agency began sending notifications to seed distributors on March 4 that the seed “must be held until APHIS can verify and identify the presence of additional genetic material.  APHIS directed distributors to begin notifying producers yesterday.”  BASF, in a statement released March 5, said it will work with the USDA to rid Clearfield CL131 rice “from the marketplace following discovery that some of the seed has been contaminated by an unidentified genetically modified event.”  The Clearfield CL131 rice is not a genetically modified type of rice, but BASF scientists asked for USDA's help after detecting the presence of biotech rice produced by Bayer CropScience, a unit of Bayer AG.  (Reuters, 3/6/07). 

•  Tomatoes, genetically engineered to contain high levels of folate, could provide the recommended daily amount in one standard serving.  Researchers from UF/IFAS have created a transgenic tomato that express 25 times more folate than a normal tomato, and may offer up to seven times more folate than green leafy vegetables, considered a rich source of the vitamin.  (NutraIngredients.com, 3/6/07).

•  Faced with a severe shortage of migrant farm workers that many blame on Colorado's crackdown on illegal immigrants, state officials are, according to this story, considering an experimental program that could have prisoners laboring on a half-dozen farms by May.  Colorado has enacted one of the nation's toughest crackdowns on illegal immigrants, denying most nonessential services to people in the country illegally, requiring more identification to get driving licenses, and putting pressure on state and local law enforcement officers to cooperate with federal immigration agents.  Normally, perhaps 10,000 migrant farmworkers - some legal, some illegal - come through Colorado each year, planting, cultivating and harvesting such crops as onion, pepper, melon and pumpkin, said Larry Gallegos, of the state Labor Department.  But he predicted their numbers will be down as much as 40 percent this year.  (AFX Asia Profeed, 3/7/07).

•  Buck Uranus, chief astronomer for the William H Carpenter Foundation in Nevada, believes that extraterrestrials are refusing to create crop circles in GM maize, and other crops because of fears of possible side-effects.  The scientist has conducted a major survey of crop circles created over the past five years and says he has not found a single example left in fields containing GM crops.  “In my spare time, I channel messages from alien beings,” said Uranus, “and from what I've been hearing, these guys have got some serious reservations about what we're doing down here.  One of them told me he's even thinking of using another planet for his artwork.”  According to Uranus, one shape-shifting lizard said: “The long-term effects of these ‘Frankenstein crops’ are just so uncertain.  Let's face it, it's not natural. And after the rigors of crossing many light years of space in order to leave some pretty patterns in your fields, we'd rather not take that extra risk.”  The visitors from outer space also have fears about contamination of plants on their own worlds, says Uranus.  He claims that one alien told him: “Just imagine - we accidentally pick up a few seeds on our undercarriage and take them home without knowing.  They could spread like wildfire then and we'd end up paying Monsanto an annual fee just to grow flooble beans on our own planet. Madness.”  Monsanto has not commented on these allegations.  (Weekly World Inquisitor, 3/2/07).