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ANNEXES


1. Project proposal
2. List of participants

1. Project proposal

Project title
Cereal Development through Integrated Sunn Pest Management in West Asia and the Near East.

Participating countries
Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Turkey.

Duration
Five years.

Governments' implementing agencies
Ministries of agriculture in participating countries.

Donor inputs
US$10 million.

Government inputs
In kind.

Background and justification

Sunn pest is the common designation given to several species of pentatomids (shield bugs) that attack cereals (mainly wheat and barley) in the Near East. There are several genera and species involved, but the most important species responsible for damage of cereals in the Syrian Arab Republic, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Commonwealth of Independent States (part of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), Bulgaria and Romania is Eurygaster integriceps Heteroptera: Pentatomidae. Both nymphs and adults cause damage to plants and reduce yield by feeding on leaves, stems and grains (from green to mature). Apart from the direct reduction in yield, the insects also inject a toxin into the grains that adds a foul smell to the resulting flour and greatly reduces the baking quality of the dough. If as little as 3 percent of the grain is in such a condition, it is enough for the whole grain lot to be considered unacceptable for any baking purposes.

Only a small part of the insect's life cycle takes place in the cereal fields. The adults spend the summer, autumn and winter in the mountains, in aestivation and hibernation, respectively. Overwintering adults begin to migrate to the fields in late March (spring) and the females lay eggs on the upper surface of cereal leaves and weeds. The newly hatched larvae moult five times and then become adults, some 50 days after oviposition. By this time, most of the overwintered adults are dead and the surviving adults start feeding on the grain at milky stage. This is the period when most damage occurs as the new adults feed intensively to build up adequate food reserves for the eight to nine months that they will spend in the mountains in diapause. As a result of this behaviour, fields close to the mountains suffer heavier damage than those on the plains.

Many climatic and biological factors influence sunn pest survival in the overwintering quarters and also in the cereal fields. For instance, harsh winters and egg parasites greatly reduce the populations that will move to the fields in spring.

Recent developments have made the sunn pest problems more serious. These include:

· growing of cereals in marginal lands (dry-farming closer to the mountains producing low yield that often do not warrant harvesting);

· overgrazing in the rangelands, thereby limiting natural vegetation that supports other pentatomids with common natural enemies (and causing a negative impact on biological diversity);

· elimination of refuges for egg parasites (coarse-barked trees);

· use of broad-spectrum insecticides for sunn pest control, usually by aerial spraying covering large areas.

All these factors combined threaten food security in the region and add much uncertainty to the traditional wheat-based agricultural systems.

Currently, sunn pest infestations, which could lead to 100 percent crop losses in the absence of control measures, are spread over thousands of hectares in affected areas. The current pesticide-based control measures are estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars annually (Table 35).

A joint FAO/ICARDA mission to the Syrian Arab Republic, Iran and Turkey in June 1992 to assess the sunn pest problem in the region revealed that sunn pest control is the responsibility solely of governments; farmers are not consulted. Governments are responsible for carrying out sunn pest surveys and forecasting, insecticide procurement, hiring of aircraft and field operations to distribute ground sprayers/insecticides and aerial insecticide spray operations. Since the mid-1980s, the area sprayed against sunn pest has increased, a situation which is the cause of much concern. The present insecticide-based strategies should be changed into a broader integrated pest management (IPM) programme that would include cultural practices (earlier-maturing varieties, crop rotation, more uniform dates of planting, double-stage harvesting) and conservation/augmentation of natural enemies. Eventually, this would transfer the responsibility for sunn pest control to the farmers.

Because of the prevailing attitude that the government is in charge and therefore that everything is under control, extension and research bodies are only marginally involved with sunn pest management. For instance, research activities on sunn pest were almost nil in the three countries visited, in stark contrast with those carried out some 30 to 40 years ago when most of the information available today was generated.

In the 1950s and 1960s, FAO played a very important role in establishing a regional information centre on sunn pest, organizing technical meetings, arranging expert visits to all affected countries, establishing an FAO committee on sunn pest and conducting regional training courses. The achievements made have lapsed since the introduction and resultant dependence on pesticides for sunn pest control, however. The presence of FAO and the participation of ICARDA are once more required to coordinate the actions necessary for the development of an IPM programme, which the FAO/ICARDA mission concluded was of top priority in order to guarantee the sustainability of wheat production in the area.

TABLE 35 - Wheat production, trade, areas infested/treated, and cost of sunn pest control in affected Near East countries

Development objectives

The project's main objective is to bridge the present gap between wheat and barley consumption and production in west Asia through the adoption and implementation of IPM practices directed towards cereal pest management in general and sunn pest management in particular.

Immediate objectives

Establishment of a regional network on sunn pest management. Outputs for such a network would be:

· the establishment of national and regional coordination committees on sunn pest management;
· the establishment of national and regional work plans on sunn pest management;
· regional reference centres designated;
· the establishment of a regional research and technology transfer subnetwork.

Enhancement a/information exchange. Outputs would be:

· a sunn pest newsletter published;

· literature on sunn pest and its natural enemies compiled and reviewed;

· a database on sunn pest and its management established and made available to participating countries;

· training manuals prepared.

IPM programme(s) identified and formulated. Outputs would be:

· surveys on sunn pest and natural enemies conducted;
· biological control investigated, tested and developed;
· cultural practices investigated, tested and developed;
· economic thresholds assessed and improved;
· selective pesticides screened and evaluated;
· IPM packages developed, assessed, improved and adopted by participating governments;
· land use improved.

Study and evaluation of economic impact of problems on production. Outputs would be:

· crop loss assessment methods evaluated, improved and harmonized;
· crop losses assessed;
· cost/benefit of currently applied control measures evaluated;
· strategies currently implemented by governments in sunn pest control assessed;
· effect on environment evaluated.

National programmes on sunn pest control strengthened. Outputs would be:

· national facilities and technical capabilities (research and extension) assessed;
· national programmes supported;
· staff trained.

Farmers trained and farmer involvement encouraged. Outputs would be:

· farmers' associations for cereal development identified and, if necessary, established;
· farmers trained in identification of pests and their natural enemies;
· farmers trained in IPM of sunn pest.

Major donor inputs

International project personnel and consultants, contractual services, training provisions, travel, equipment and supplies.

ICARDA inputs

Training and coordination of its research programme with the national and regional sunn pest control programmes.

Participating countries' inputs

Launch national programmes, designate counterparts and provide facilities and transport.

TABLE 36 - Provisional project budget

Personnel

US$1.5 million

Contractual services

US$1.5 million

Training

US$2.5 million

Equipment and supplies

US$2.5 million

Miscellaneous

US$2 million

Total

US$10 million

2. List of participants

Participating countries

Afghanistan

Hayat, H.
Plant Protection and Quarantine
Department
MALR c/o FAO Office
Mazar-i-Sharif
PO Box 5
Kabul
Fax: (15) 008731505152
Fax: (15) 008731752101

Hussaini, S.H.
National Project Officer
Locust/Sunn Pest Project
c/o FAO Office
Mazar-i-Sharif
Kabul
Fax: (15) 008731505152
Fax: (15) 008731752101

Iran

Esmaili, M.
Plant Protection Department
Faculty of Agriculture
College of Agriculture of Teheran
University
Karaj
Tel: 3110188276
Fax: c/o FAO Iran (009821) 654104

Radjabi, Gh.
c/o Mr W.J. Collett
FAO Representative
PO Box 15875-4557
UNDP Teheran
Fax: (009821) 654104

Rassipour, A.
Organization of Plant Protection
2, Tabnak
St Evine, 19395
Teheran
Tel: 292712

Iraq

Al-Khafaji, A.S.
Plant Protection Research Division
State Board for Agriculture Research
Abu-Graib Building
Baghdad

Zuwain, Q.K.
State Board of Plant Protection
Baghdad, Abu-Graib
Tel: 5112603/5112602
Fax: (001212) 9633010

Jordan

Khasawneh, M.F.
Director, Plant Protection
Ministry of Agriculture
Amman
Tel: (00962) 6686151
Fax: (00962) 6686310

Lebanon

Mechelany, E.
Entomologist
Ministry of Agriculture Institute of Agronomic Research
Fanar
c/o ICARDA-Beirut
Telex: 22509LE ICARDA

Talhouk, A.S.
American University of Beirut
c/o ICARDA-Beirut

Pakistan

Mohyuddin, A.I.
Director
PARC-CIBC Station
International Institute of Biological Control
Murree Road, PO Box 8
Rawalpindi
Fax: (51) 842347

Syrian Arab Republic

Al Rahabi, A.M.
Plant Protection Division
DASR
Douma
PO Box 113
Damascus
Tel: 750401

Sheikh, K.
Directorate of Plant Protection
Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian
Reform
Damascus
Tel: 226455

Turkey

Memisoglu, H.
Protection and Control Directorate
Ankara
Tel: 4174176/59

Salçan; Y.
Assistant Director-General of Plant Protection and Control
Ankara
Tel: 4181468
Fax: 4181262

Simsek, Z.
Plant Protection Research Institute
Ankara
Tel: (4) 3447430
Fax: 3151531

Invited speakers

Donskoff, M.
Laboratory of the Entomology
Museum
45, rue de Buffon
75005 Paris, France
Fax: 3699

Javahery, M.
Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Department of Entomology
McGill University
21 111 Lakeshore
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue
Quebec, Canada H9X 3V9
Tel: (514) 3987911
Fax:(514) 3987990
Telex: 05821788MCLSBLV

Popov, C.
Research Institute for Industrial and Technical Crops
8264, Fundulea
District Calarasi, Romania
Tel: 137062
Fax: 4091140544
Telex: 11394ASAS

Rosca, I.
Research Institute for Industrial and Technical Crops
8264, Fundulea
District Calarasi, Romania
Tel: 137062
Fax: 4091140544
Telex: 11394ASAS

Skaf, R.
PO Box 1991
Lattakia, Syrian Arab Republic
Tel: 220922
Telex: 451026SYAFFAKI

Voegelé, J.
428 chemin des Rastines
Antibes 06600, France
Tel: 93336250
Fax: (33) 92050355

Organizing committee

Barbosa, S.
FAO Plant Production and Protection Division
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome, Italy
Tel: 52256269
Fax: 52253152
Telex: 625852FAOI

Miller, R.H.
Cereals Program
ICARDA
PO Box 5466
Aleppo, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: (96321) 213490
Telex: 331208SY

Taher, M.M.
FAO Regional Office for the Near East
PO Box 2223
Cairo, Egypt
Tel: 702229/3497184
Fax: 3495981
Telex: 21055FAONEUN

Observers

Aleppo University

Babi, A.
Faculty of Agriculture
Aleppo University
Aleppo, Syrian Arab Republic
Tel: (96321) 236130/236101

Bayaa, B.
Faculty of Agriculture
Aleppo University
Aleppo, Syrian Arab Republic
Tel: (96321) 236130/236101

Ibrahim, J.
Dean, Faculty of Agriculture
Aleppo University
Aleppo, Syrian Arab Republic
Tel: (96321) 236130/236101

CIMMYT

Braun, H.
CIMMYT
PK 39 Emek
06511 Ankara, Turkey
Tel: (904) 2873595
Fax: (904) 2878955
Telex: 42994CIMYTR

Payne, T.
CIMMYT
PK 39 Emek
06511 Ankara, Turkey
Tel: (904) 2873595
Fax: (904) 2878955
Telex: 42994CIMYTR

FAO Afghanistan Rehabilitation Programme

Nugent, R.
FAO/Project UNO/AFG/013/UNA
c/o FAO Afghanistan Rehabilitation Programme
PO Box 1476
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: (9251) 819715
Fax: (9251) 825148
Telex: 54511AGRAFPK

United Kingdom

Ritchie, J.M.
Resource Centre Manager
Insect Taxonomy and Biology
Natural Resources Institute
Central Avenue
Chatham Maritime
Chatham, Kent ME4 4TB, UK
Fax: (0634) 883386

United States

Delati, J.
Agricultural Attaché
US Embassy
PO Box 29
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Tel: 714108/332814

Panasuk, L.L.
Agricultural Counsellor
American Embassy
110 Ataturk Blvd.
Ankara, Turkey
Tel: 4265470
Fax: (904)4670056

Other Syrian participants

Al Mushref, F.
Plant Protection Department
Agriculture Directorate
Hassake, Syrian Arab Republic
Tel: 220371

Assi, W.
Plant Protection Department
Agriculture Directorate
Aleppo, Syrian Arab Republic
Tel: 444000

Hazim, K.
Plant Protection Department
Skelbeia, Al Ghab,
Syrian Arab Republic
Tel: 448113

Kak, M.J.
Plant Protection Department
Agriculture Directorate
Idlib, Syrian Arab Republic
Tel: 20594

Sultan, N.
Plant Protection Department
Agriculture Directorate
Hama, Syrian Arab Republic
Tel: 224881


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