Ruth Falshaw

Are you passionate about social networking and science communication?

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The New Zealand Plant Protection Society is seeking expressions of interest from a talented social media whizz who can increase the visibility and reach of the Society. Contact us at: secretary@nzpps.org by 31 October 2020 if you are interested in:

  • Preparing an annual communication strategy for key target audiences
  • Delivering this strategy through frequent and relevant communication activities via a range of channels that provide an effective online presence for the NZPPS
  • Using relevant metrics and surveys to increase the reach of the Society through social media networks

The Comms Manager will receive an honorarium from the Society as a token of its appreciation of the work they do.

Become part of our science communication team and explore the world of plant protection through social media.

NZPPS Benefactor Dr George Mason honoured

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NZPPS benefactor Dr George Mason was presented with an ONZM by Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy this afternoon. George was awarded this prestigious honour for his services to conservation, philanthropy and the community. Over the last 25 years, George has donated more than $5 million to scholarships, educational funding and grants through the George Mason Charitable Trust. One of these grants is the annual Dan Watkins Scholarship in Weed Science, which is administered by the NZPPS. George established this scholarship in memory of Dan Watkins and to recognise Dan’s contribution to weed science within New Zealand. Dan was a leading figure in the early weed science research arena within New Zealand and was a co-founder of the New Zealand Weeds Conference (forerunner of the NZPPS). The aim of this Scholarship is to encourage research into the biology and control of weeds in New Zealand.

A compelling read…

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If you want to know how innovative, world-leading applied plant-protection research has been in New Zealand and why this discipline needs to be supported then read this book. It’s an acknowledgment and record of the work of dedicated researchers and scientists to find, develop and transfer to growers a better way.

The title of a new book Farewell Silent Spring right away lays out a challenge. For it would be fair to state that Silent Spring by Rachel Carson laid bare many of the issues relating to the use of pesticides when it was published in 1962.
Today, we have just as big a challenge to increase food production in a sustainable manner and using pest management tools that meet consumer wants. This new book by Dr Howard Wearing takes up the challenge and delivers a clear unequivocal response.
Farewell to Silent Spring is simultaneously entertaining and educating in telling how the New Zealand apple industry moved from classical pest control reliant on chemical inputs to a sustainable pest management system over a period of 60 years. It is a compelling read.
As all with all good entertaining books, there are villains (Cydia pomonella, the Ctenopseustis and Planotortrix gang and many more), and there are heroes, some small such as Typhlodromus pyri, Mastrus ridens, Acerophagous maculipennis and others large – the over 200 people named. As an educating read, it is an insight into the complex relationship between food production and nature and shows the value of careful observational ecological science.
There are many ways to approach this book. Firstly though let me state what it is not. It is not a journal paper of the development of integrated fruit production (IFP) nor is it a meta-analysis of all the research done for IFP. So what is it? Let’s answer that by saying that you can read it:

–         as a case study for integrated pest management (IPM), finding out about the multitude of factors that are required for IPM implementation with the chance that many of these may be of value in your work
 
–         for the history of apple production systems in New Zealand
 
–         for the insights into science funding, how it worked in the past and today, the importance of long-term studies over decades with each year’s work building the understanding and the benefit of collaborative science
 
–         to understand the pest and beneficial insects in the apple orchards of New Zealand, and/or
 
–         to follow the careers of scientists and researchers who stepped outside the convention of pest control of the day and set out a change programme with a well-defined objective and reached it.

For whatever reason you have, just make sure you read it.

As I finished the book, two minor criticisms come to mind and they may well be due to my personal views. The first is that while there is acknowledgment of the products from the Crop Protection industry and the industry assistance in contributing to the funding of the research it needed more. A chapter on the outstanding work of the Crop Protection companies did in the 1990s to advance the apple IFP programme and the researchers there that were as dedicated and motivated to see IFP be successful would have completed the story for all involved. Secondly, at times, the emotive language overstates the potential risks of the crop protection products. Residues and maximum residue limits (MRLs) are set based on science and at levels safe to consumers. This is not to say that consumers wants should not be taken into account, just that these wants are often not driven by evidence-based findings. The author’s arguments could be made without falling into the trap of emotive language used by many.
The thing is this book is excellent for many reasons. If you are not yet convinced to get this book let me make one more point. The Millennial generation have recently raised the question what did the Boomers do to improve the world. Pick up this book and you will have the story of how the Boomer generation actually did take on huge environmental challenges. The people here studied and observed nature in apple orchards and stopped the use of toxic chemicals for pest control by using nature to manage nature. They did this through careful research and a deep understanding of the issues involved, and they created a sustainable food production system using holistic principles. This is the story of making the world a better place and, after all, isn’t that the best kind of story?
Copies are available for purchase from the publisher, the New Zealand Plant Protection Society, at: https://nzpps.org/books/pest-management/
 
George Follas

Changes to the Journal and Conference 2020

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At the August 2019 AGM, NZPPS members voted to make substantial changes to the way in which the annual conference and journal are operated. Presenters at the conference are not required to publish their work in the Journal and authors of papers published in the Journal are not required to present their work at the Society’s annual conference.

What you need to do:

  1. If you want to present a talk or a poster at the 2020 NZPPS conference in Napier then please write a 300-word abstract and submit it at https://nzpps.org/abstracts by 15 March 2020.

Abstracts will be reviewed by the Executive Committee and successful candidates will be informed by 8 May.  Abstracts will be collated into an Abstract booklet. Printed copies will be available at the conference and an online version will be published after the conference.  Authors of papers accepted by New Zealand Plant Protection will be automatically eligible for a presentation at the conference if they wish.

2. If you want to publish your work in New Zealand Plant Protection then download the manuscript template here, write your paper and submit it to the Journal as soon as it is ready as submissions can be made at any time.

Note that at least one author must be a member of the NZPPS and poster abstracts will no longer be published in the Journal. There are no longer any page charges. Instead, in 2020, authors will be required to pay an article-processing fee of NZ$420 + GST if their manuscript is accepted. Where the first author is a student currently enrolled at a New Zealand tertiary education institution, the fee will be NZ$350 +GST. Each paper will be published online at https://journal.nzpps.org  with page numbers and a unique doi once it is ready but there will be no printed copies. See the submission criteria for more details.

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