Book reviews (PN68)  

Practical guide to using on-farm biodiversity
This resource handbook contains practical information on all aspects of agroecological infrastructures, related to functional biodiversity, habitat management and their quality evaluation and assessment. It is edited by experienced agro-ecologists associated with the International Organisation for Biological Control (IOBC) and presented in English and German. There is ample step-by-step guidance available on how to use hedges and wildflower strips, buffer zones against pesticide drift, and vegetation cover and food for encouraging beneficial organisms in different cropping systems. These include integrated production techniques in vineyards and fruit orchards, field grown vegetables, arable crops and grassland. Nettles, for example, support a rich collection of beneficial insects in many European zones, including important predators or parasitoids of leafhopper pests in vines and psyllid bugs in orchards. Permanent flowering plants in vineyards provide resources for successful immigration and reproduction of key biological control organisms. Practical knowledge is presented largely from Swiss farms that can be extended and adapted to other temperate regions in Europe. Up-to-date knowledge on evaluating ecological structures is highly valuable for students and researchers of ecology equally, with sample record sheets for biodiversity assessment.
    A strong point of the book is the way the information is delivered. The reader can easily find the right sections and can also find details of further reading with well-presented references at the back. Colourful illustrations at every step communicate the information simply and directly aiding understanding. The book should fill the needs of organic and integrated pest and crop management practitioners at field level while providing detailed insights for those drawing up guidelines on sustainable production systems.
Ecological Infrastructures: Ideabook on Functional Biodiversity at the Farm Level Temperate Zones of Europe, English-German, August 2004. Boller, E.F, Hani, F and Poehling, H.M. Copyright, IOBCwprs. ISBN 3-906776-07-7, Published by LBL, www.lbl.ch, €25.

Biocontrol market rise
This report gives a useful overview of the status of the commercial market for biopesticides, beneficial insects and pheromone products. It lists major products or organisms in each group and their advantages and limitations for pest, disease or weed management. Estimating the size of the world market continues to be problematic, as some estimates only include microbial products, while in developing countries there is considerable production and sale by government agencies, which does not go into commercial market figures. For many years, the figure of 1% of the global chemical pesticide market has been quoted for biocontrol alternatives. This report acknowledges that although biocontrol has been growing at a faster rate than chemicals, the current commercial market share may be no more than US$310 million or 1.15%. Of this, microbial pesticides make up 65%, pheromones 19% and beneficial organisms 16%. Commercial biocontrol products are mainly used on high value crops on low acreage, such as fruit, vegetables, nuts and ornamentals, predominantly in the US and Europe. In Europe, the largest biopesticide markets are Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal. The report also covers registration issues, contrasting the US and EU situations, explores future technologies and assesses market drivers and growth prospects. Twenty-five leading biocontrol companies are profiled, with discussion of how best to promote biocontrol and the many obstacles to running a profitable biocontrol business.
Biopesticide, biocontrol and semiochemical markets. Jon Evans, AGROW Reports, PJB Publications Ltd, 2004, £495/$1040.

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State of the World 2005
This new edition of the annual environmental analysis from the Worldwatch Institute has a special focus on global security. It addresses issues such as; the connection between populations and security, the management of water conflicts, and disarming of post-war societies. It also discusses how environmental cooperation can help in peace processes and how current global security issues, such as internal civil conflicts and international terrorism, differ from those of the post-World War II era. 
    In the chapter ‘Cultivating Food Security’, AIDS was identified as one of the major threats to food security as this disease steadily strips developing countries of their agricultural base. Women carry out 80% of the farm work and yet are hardest hit by AIDS; 60% of people living with AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa are women. Many women abandon fields to care for sick relative and many parents die before passing their skills on to the next generation causing the region to lose much of its agricultural knowledge.
    Other threats to food security are the loss of diversity of plant and animal species. In the last decade numbers of pollinators have declined all over the world. Their decline can largely be explained by the use of pesticides. They are responsible for pollinating $10 billion worth of crops every year and so are vital for our agriculture. Diversity of agricultural crop varieties has declined dramatically by 75% since the beginning of the last century. Green Revolution rice varieties introduced only four decades ago cover more than half of all rice land in developing countries.
In a single year, 2003, 32,000 chemical accidents occurred in the US alone. When poorly managed chemicals pose a threat to global security, not just because of accidental release but because of their potential use by terrorists and their effects on the environment and human health.
    This edition provides a good overview of all the major threats to societies worldwide. It also puts forward ways of dealing with many of these problems and stresses the importance of action.
State of the World 2005: Redefining Global Security, The Worldwatch Institute, Earthscan Publications Ltd., London, 2005, 237pp, $18.95

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Survival and the environment
A comparative study of how societies have failed or survived due to environmental factors (among others), this book is a sweeping review that seeks parallels with modern efforts to protect the environment, and the weaknesses and inadequacies of these efforts. While not an in depth scientific document, rather aimed at a more general interest audience, the book is interesting and provocative. Pesticides are covered in several of the chapters dealing with modern societies (Chapters 12, 13, 16), including the transfer of obsolete pesticide technology to China, cotton production in Australia, and the long term health and environmental impacts of pesticides. Of particular interest is how past societies failed to react to environmental change or problems before it was too late, leading to the collapse of social structures and economies. While some arguments are a little far-fetched (and the examples of positive environmental impacts of some oil fields unbelievable), there is plenty to reflect on here, and the historical overviews by themselves are fascinating.
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or survive, Jared Diamond, Allen Lane, London, 2005, ISBN 0-713-99286-7, 576pp, £20.

UK Pesticide Guide 2005
The UK Pesticide Guide is based on approved product labels and information from the UK government’s pesticide regulators, the Pesticides Safety Directorate, and the Health and Safety Executive. Section 1 alphabetically lists crops grown in the UK indicating which active ingredients (ais) are registered for use on them. Section 2 provides an alphabetical list of 350 individual registered ais and 150 ai mixes, the products containing them (1,400 in total), their uses and application guidelines. Compared to 2004 there are 162 new products and 351 products no longer registered. There is information on the 120 adjuvants used in the UK, a guide to UK pesticide legislation, including how to complete a Crop Protection Management Plan as recommended by the Voluntary Initiative. Contact information for agrochemical suppliers is supplied. 
The UK Pesticide Guide 2005 (ed) R. Whitehead, 612pp, CABI Publishing www.cabi-publishing.org <http://www.cabi-publishing.org> +44 (0) 1491 832111 and BCPC www.bcpc.org/bookshop <http://www.bcpc.org/bookshop> +44 (0) 1420 593200, £35. Or order direct from Amazon.co.uk

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 68, June 2005, page 22]