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Emerging technologies for integrated pest management

Article  in  Crop Protection · April 2001

DOI: 10.1016/S0261-2194(00)00130-7

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 Crop Protection 20 (2001) 267}268
Book reviews
Principles of Plant Breeding, R.W. Allard, Wiley, New
York 1999, 254 pp, price C45.50, ISBN 0-471-02309-4
This book is the second edition of the classic overview
of plant breeding written by one of the world's leading
authorities on this subject. The book is well written in
simple and clear terms. The scienti"c data is reviewed
and presented in a lucid and logical manner to give
a succinct and balanced summary of the state of the art in
plant breeding.
The book subdivides into four sections. The "rst
part gives a condensed summary of the origins of agri-
culture and the development of plant breeding from
a Darwinian perspective. It sets the chronology for
mankinds impact on his environment and the evolution
of plant breeding. The closing chapter (5) of this "rst
part should be required reading for any self-proclaimed
expert on plant breeding. It set the principles for plant
breeding and reviews the mathematics and biometrics
involved.
The biological foundations for plant breeding are dis-
cussed in part 2. The considered judgement and the
ability to set the work in context are clear and signi"cant
features. This section covers plant breeding in the
"rst part of this century and its development in
understanding heredity and the environment, the genetic
Emerging technologies for integrated pest management,
George G. Kennedy and Turner B. Sutton (Eds.); APS
Press, The American Phytopathological Society, St Paul,
Minnesota, 526pp., price $54, ISBN 0-89054-246-5
The concepts of pest management, particularly in rela-
tion to insect pests were articulated at a conference held
in North Carolina in 1970. Twenty-nine years later a se-
quel to this was another conference, which aimed to
broaden the focus to take account of processes, #ows and
relationships among di!erent organisms. As the title of
this book indicates, the emphasis was on new develop-
ments. The proceedings are divided into eight sections,
which cover the background, diagnostic techniques, gen-
etic engineering, biological control, pesticide technology
* including resistance management, the use of GIS and
GPS in pest management, information technology
* and future challenges. With three exceptions, scientists
working in the USA contribute the 36 &chapters', so it
might be argued that it is a book suitable only for North
0261-2194/00/$ - see front matter  2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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consequences of hybridisation and marker-assisted
systems.
The third part reviews modern breeding plans and
looks at self-fertilizing annuals, outcrossing annual
plants and vegetatively propagated perennials. There are
many clearly presented examples of the various systems
used and their value in breeding novel traits. The closing
chapter looks at plant breeding for low-impact agricul-
ture. The interaction between environment and genotype
is a recurrent theme of the book and Professor Allard
makes several crucial points on this theme and the direct
relevance to low-input farming systems.
An excellent book which should be recommended
reading for both graduate and postgraduate students.
Politicians and environmentalists should study the text
and learn the lessons of plant breeding. Finally, it is
refreshing that such an elegant book makes little use of
the words that infect all current media opinions on plant
breeding. Its almost a GM free zone!
R.G. Turner
The British Society of Plant Breeders Ltd.,
Woolpack Chambers, Market Street, Ely,
Cambs CB4 7ND, UK
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America. However,while some of the new technologies
discussed in the book are contributing more to integrated
pest management (IPM) in the USA than elsewhere,
the book does provide a useful insight into the current
status of IPM in developed agriculture, where wide-
spread use of pesticides has continued to dominate pest
management. It fails to recognise many of the advances
in IPM adopted in developing countries, where farmers'
lack of "nance prevents additional inputs to protect
their crops. Trends in new diagnostic techniques,
transgenic crops and pesticides all indicate better ways to
control pests than are currently available, with less risk
to the environment. However, a greater amount of know-
ledge will require better dissemination, via the Internet
and other methods, as well as require better educational
skills.
One contributor poses six questions that need to be
answered if IPM is to become dominant in crop protec-
tion. These questions refer to the need to increase
budgets for IPM, the e!ect of legislation on IPM e!orts,
268 Book reviews / Crop Protection 20 (2001) 267}268
the need to stimulate and manage systems research, ways
to improve dissemination of knowledge, whether envir-
onmental and consumer communities are really commit-
ted to IPM, and lastly whether the marketplace can do
better than government. All these questions have a wider
relevance than the USA. As the author of the six ques-
tions points out, there is the IPM of IPM, namely `Inter-
est groups, Politics and Money that make the world go
rounda. Orientating all these to promote IPM will be
needed for wider adoption of IPM, instead of the
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polarised use of chemical control or at the other extreme,
the demand for organic farming.
G.A. Matthews
Department of Biology,
IPARC, Imperial College, Silwood Park,
Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
E-mail address: g.matthews@ic.ac.uk
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