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FEBRUARY 2016 ISSUE Website: http://www.faopma.com

President: Mdm Huang Xiao Yun - (hxyun@cpca.cn)

Administrator: Catherine Yan - (info@faopma.com)

Editor: Doug Howick - (doug@tpaa.com.au)

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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Dear FAOPMA Members:

“The year 2016

arrived in a hurry and

along with it were

warm yearly

greetings.

I’d like to take this

opportunity to offer

my very best wishes to

every one of my

colleagues in our

industry.”

My wish for you might not be the same old “smooth

sailing” or “may all your wishes come true”; they are

very nice words, but most folks know the ocean is hardly

calm and not all wishes will work out as expected. I

want my wish to carry a different kind of message:

the message of sharing love, friendship and trust.

2016 is a year full of hopes and dreams for our team and

our industry. With these hopes and dreams, we embark

on this beautiful journey. We will work relentlessly to

turn these dreams into reality and more importantly, we

believe in ourselves being able to achieve these dreams

and relish the journey that will take us to a better future.

Meanwhile, we also should have a deep understanding of

the unbalanced economic development in today’s world

and the political instability as a result, as well as the new

economy with rapidly evolving mobile technology.

All of these developments, like it or not, will have an

impact on our lives, and we will be faced with numerous

challenges and an ever uncertain future. However, my

dear colleagues, I would like to point out that when

people are in search of warmth, they will cuddle in a

group; when people are trying to achieve big goals as a

team, they will instinctively trust each other; when

people need strength, they will turn to their loved ones,

because love is the strongest force of them all.

It is my hope that we can hold each other’s hand to

show our support and trust when we are facing tough

challenges. Let’s build this Federation like we are

building our own house ─ with love and care.

With these words as part of the first newsletter of 2016, I

wish that you can feel the warmth during the cold winter;

I hope that you can taste the tenderness of the spring

flowers and hear the rolling thunder ahead of the first

rain.

I wish all of you great health and happiness!

Mdm. Huang Xiao Yun FAOPMA President (2015-2017)

The Chinese Pest Control Association

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PPM News

NTACT

2

USM study on barn owls as biological

pest control

Bernama, 20 January 2016

Researchers at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) are

carrying out a study on the effectiveness of using owls

as biological pest control agents for rodents.

Pest control expert from the university's School of

Biology, Dr Hasber Salim said owls had been used to

control rodents in farms and plantations since the 1970s,

but efforts to introduce them in urban and suburban areas

were still lacking.

He said the barn owl species "Tyto alba javanica" was

special, as it could consume many more rodents than

other types of owls.

Subang Jaya Municipal Council recently released the

first pair of barn owls for rat population control in

Subang Jaya, Selangor. – (The Malaysian Insider file

pic, January 20, 2016)

Hasber said he managed to secure RM175,000 in

university research grants to fund the project to introduce

owls as biological control agents for pests and rodents

and as a symbol of a rich biodiversity, through the 'USM

Barn Owl Research Group'.

"Currently, we are nurturing these owls, which are

usually taken less than a month after hatching in their

natural habitats in agricultural areas and brought to the

laboratory or USM Aviary to get accustomed to a new

diet of mice that are available here," he said.

Hasber said the training process usually took two to six

months before the owls were released around the USM

campus, adding that the success of the project also called

for the possibility of using barn owls to kill rodents in

urban areas. – Bernama, January 20, 2016.

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Sikkim: India's first 'Complete

Organic State'

Sikkim has become India's first 'Complete Organic

State'. Implementing the practices and principles as per

guidelines laid in 'National Programme for Organic

Products', it has gradually converted 75,000 hectares of

agricultural land to Organic farming land.

In 2003, Sikkim government had declared their "Sikkim

Organic Movement" which aimed to make Sikkim a fully

organic state by the end of 2015. Consequently, the State

government banned the use and sale of chemical fertilizers

and pest controls for agricultural land, leaving farmers with

no option but to use organic products. Organic Agriculture

helps to preserve bio-diversity and environment in long run.

It also helps in building soil health and increased crop

production.

Many of the chemicals used in pesticides are persistent soil

contaminants, whose impact adversely affect soil

conservation. The use of pesticides decreases the general

biodiversity in the soil. Organic farming relies on techniques

such as crop rotation, green manure, compost, and biological

pest control. Earthworms digest organic matter and increase

nutrient content in the top layer of soil.

They protect human health by ingesting decomposing litter.

Not using the chemicals results in higher soil quality, with

the additional effect that more organic matter in the soil

allows for higher water retention. The other aspect of

organic farming is that it also helps to boost tourism in the

Himalayan State

The State government focused on using organic farming as

a means to better the economic prospects for farmers, as

well as to draw attention to the State through ventures such

as organic tourism. The state government's efforts have

resulted in attracting more and more tourists to the State.

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3

Herpes virus could be introduced to

control Murray-Darling carp invasion

Native Australian species are under threat as carp

numbers boom in the Murray-Darling Basin.

CSIRO Scientists are confident the release of a herpes

virus they believe only affects carp will help halt the

spread of the pest through the Murray-Darling Basin.

The Murray-Darling Basin is infested with European

Carp, where their habits churn up mud and make the

water uninhabitable for native fish and other species.

Native Australian species are under threat as carp

numbers boom in the Murray-Darling Basin.

More than half of the native species in the Murray-

Darling Basin are listed as vulnerable or threatened

with extinction.

CSIRO scientists have been investigating a viral disease

called cyprinid herpesvirus-3, which was first

encountered in Israel in 1998 and causes high death rates

in carp. They believe the virus will kill carp specifically,

sparing native fish and other species such as yabbies.

Lead researcher Ken McColl has said the team are

nearing the end of their scientific work. “Over quite a

number of years we’ve looked at about 13 species of

native fish, and we’ve not been able to find any evidence

of disease or virus multiplication in any of those

species,” he said. “We’re fairly confident that it’s not

going to cause problems elsewhere.

“We expect 70 to 80 percent mortality in the first

instance, which is huge when we are talking that

number of fish, and then we will have a one- to four-year

window to do other things like netting and genetic work

to really keep the carp population under control.”

The National Farmers Federation, the Invasive Species

Council, the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research

Centre and the Australian Recreational Fishing

Foundation have joined with the Australian Conservation

Foundation and the National Irrigators Council in calling

for the release of the virus.

“We are united in calling for clearer, healthier waterways

and fish communities,” said Jonathan La Nauze, acting

campaigns director for the Australian Conservation

Foundation.

Matthew Barwick from the NSW Department of Primary

Industries has said approvals would take a couple of

years.

Researchers believe the virus will not affect humans,

meaning excited fishermen can continue to give the

obligatory kiss to their prize catch.

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Rentokil eyes PH expansion

December 23, 2015 - by Othel V. Campos

Rentokil Initial Philippines Inc., the local unit of a US

sanitation and pest control company, said it plans to

increase its sales in the residential sector over the next

five years. The company said it aimed to increase the

share of the residential sector to 30 percent of total

business by 2020 from the current 12 percent.

Rentokil Initial Philippines managing director Ederine

Gee Geneblazo said the increasing awareness on hygiene

and pest control to avoid life-threatening diseases had

encouraged more home owners to become open and pro-

active in sanitizing their homes. “There has been a lot of

inquiry lately on our website. We see that in the next five

years, the share of residential to our business will grow

rapidly to more than a hundred fold. Right now the bulk

of our operations is more on commercial,” she said.

Geneblazo said the Philippine market was unique,

compared to European or Asia-Pacific markets where

the company’s commercial and residential operations

were in the same proportion.

The company said it posted a double-digit growth in

sales as it continued to expand across the nation from

active markets in Manila, Cebu, Pampanga to Davao. It

has recently expanded to deliver services in Cavite,

Iloilo, Batangas and La Union.

The company directly employs 202 employees that

include entomologists and agriculturists for pest control.

It services the large hotels, resorts, food manufacturing

companies, pharmaceuticals, hospitals and business

process outsourcing companies. Rentokil in the

Philippines has a 26-percent market share in pest control

and 23 percent in hygiene and sanitation.

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4

Fluoro orange the new red light

symbol for randy beetles

Written by Samille Mitchell

The misguided lovers: a species of male jewel beetle

called Julidomorpha saundersi. DPaW Kalbarri

o Randy male beetles mistake fluoro safety

equipment in Kalbarri for female beetles

o DPaW staff study beetle’s attraction habits

o Research into beetle’s past affliction for beer

bottles scores “Ig Nobel Prize”

The frisky male jewel beetles (Julidomorpha saundersi),

which made headlines in the 1980s for attempting to

mate with discarded beer stubbies, seem to be at it

again—only this time they are targeting fluoro-coloured

safety equipment.

Apparently the beetles came across the beer bottles in

WA’s outback and mistook the bottle’s hue and bumps

for that of their female counterpart, albeit, larger, harder

and unmoving—a kind of enormous jewel beetle

goddess.

While such misguided attention was considered to have

an impact on the species’ ability to reproduce, it was not

deemed a threat to their survival given the vast areas of

bush without beer bottles.

But nowadays these misguided Romeos in Kalbarri

National Park seem to have given up on the beer bottles,

which are thin on the ground, and shifted their attention

to the fluoro orange colours of vehicle indicators,

witches hats and safety vests

Park rangers installing road signs in Kalbarri

National Park last year observed dozens of the male

beetle attempting to copulate with these equally

unresponsive fluoro-coloured items, according to

Department of Parks and Wildlife Mid West district

manager Anthony Desmond.

“Current stubbies are presumably less attractive than the

old ones as they are now mostly darker and lack the

small bumps around the base,” Mr Desmond says.

“There is even a rumour floating around that the Swan

Brewery made this change to protect the male beetles

from frustration.

“Presumably the safety vest material and vehicle

indicators also reflect light in a way close to that found

on females’ elytra [wing cases].

“With the number of fluoro clothes prevalent in the

environment of WA these days it may be that there is a

new threat to the mating system of Julidomorpha

saundersi.”

The Parks and Wildlife rangers are planning a study this

year to determine what exactly is attracting the one-

track-minded male jewel beetles to the fluoro items.

Scientists Darryl Gwynne and David Rentz’s

consequent paper on the beetle’s mating with beer

bottles proved so intriguing that they won the 2011

“Ig Noble Prize in Biology”, which honour

achievements that make people laugh, and then think.

The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honour

the imaginative—and spur people's interest in science,

medicine, and technology.

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Man wins dispute over termites

By Ke Jiayun | December 22, 2015,

A PROPERTY buyer who found termites in his newly

bought flat won a lawsuit yesterday against the former

owner of the flat who refused to pay back the money

despite an agreement.

The Hongkou District People’s Court said yesterday that

the former owner of the house, surnamed Li, had to be

responsible for the flat’s quality. The court said since Li

agreed to cancel the deal and return the money to the

buyer surnamed Zhang, she must fulfil her agreement.

Zhang bought a ground floor flat for his elderly parents

in May this year in Hongkou District, whose owner was

Li. The two signed a contract and Zhang paid Li 400,000

yuan (US$61,719) as down payment. However, when

Zhang checked the flat, some of the neighbours told him

about the problems with termites inside.

He checked the flat and found termites under the wooden

floor, inside the door frame and cabinet. Following the

discovery, Li agreed to terminate their contract and

return the money to Zhang after a week. But Li regretted

her decision and refused to pay Zhang the money.

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5

Danish Year of the Rat

January 13th, 2016 10:07 am| by Ray W

Municipalities received reports of rodents in record

numbers last year

"So, what's for dinner?" (photo: Dana Sibera)

Although the Chinese Zodiac may not agree, 2015

was apparently the year of the rat in Denmark. Two

mild winters in a row have created optimum breeding

conditions for the pests and several municipalities

have received record numbers of reports of rats.

“There are many more rats this year,” Erik Erbs – the

head of road and park maintenance in Sønderborg, a

town in southern Jutland – told Dr Nyheder.

Unpleasant record

Erbs said his department received 900 more reports of

rats last year than in 2014, which had been the previous

record year. In total, there were over 3,000 rat reports in

Sønderborg last year.

“We have had to put extra staff on rat control since

October just to keep up,” said Erbs. “We’ll continue with

the extra staffing until March.”

Is the Pied piper available ?

Esbjerg has also been plagued by an increasing number

of rats in its sewers. “The number of rats is quite high,”

said Torben Bergmann, the environmental officer at

Esbjerg Municipality. “We have used more resources on

rat control.”

Pest control company Rentokil heard from 170,000

customers who found rats in their homes, making

2015 a record year.

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One dengue patient every three

minutes, report says

KUALA LUMPUR, January 12, 2016

Dengue cases have been on the rise, with 3,337 cases

recorded in the first week of the year compared to the

average 2,300 cases weekly last year.

This, according to The Star today, translates to one

case every three minutes.

The local English daily also reported that the 45 per cent

increase could go up even higher to 50 per cent because

of the El Nino phenomena causing the heat wave.

“With the hot weather, the life cycle of Aedes

mosquitoes, from eggs to adulthood will be shortened to

seven days and this will increase the mosquito

population during the period,” Health Ministry director-

general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah was quoted

saying yesterday.

A pest control worker sprays insecticide to help control

the spread of dengue fever carried by mosquitoes.

Dengue cases could increase because of the El Nino

phenomena causing the heat wave. ― File pic.

The Star reported that the number of dengue outbreak

locations has increased to 1,044 compared to 907 the

week before. The number of hotspots also rose from 145

to 161 involving Selangor (122), Johor (22), Perak (8),

Penang (4), Sabah (2), Negri Sembilan (2) and the

Federal Territories (1).

According to The Star, 120,836 dengue cases were

reported last year, registering an 11.2 per cent increase

from 108,698 cases in 2014.

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6

'Rat'tled on an express journey

Rodents rule holiday train, Tatanagar wins double halt

OUR CORRESPONDENT

The Ranchi-New Jalpaiguri Weekly Express during its

launch from the capital on February 12, 2015

Even the most ardent animal lover would like to ditch

a ride on board the New Jalpaiguri-Ranchi Weekly

Express. Residents of Ranchi, holidaying in

Darjeeling this winter, are back with wonderful

memories of the hills, but cannot forget their 22-hour

ordeal with rats and roaches on a train launched only

last year.

"Our vacation was great fun and our journey home

equally bad. On our way to Darjeeling, we had taken a

flight to Bagdogra, which was a breeze. However, we

took the NJP-Ranchi express on our return journey on

January 1. We boarded the train from New Jalpaiguri

station at 5.15am and soon knew we had made a wrong

choice," said P. Guha, a development professional who

was on a week-long holiday to Darjeeling with his wife

and their 10-year-old son.

As rats and cockroaches scurried around them soon

after the train left platform, the Guhas, who were

travelling AC-II, decided to dial for help.

"I had noticed a board mentioning the last pest control

date as December 24. There was a helpline number too. I

dialled 58888 near Katihar (seventh station from NJP)

and the response was prompt. Within 15 minutes, the

TTE came asking what the problem was. Our gripe

triggered a flurry of spraying and cleaning activities,

but the result was nil. The rats and roaches came

home to Ranchi," Guha said.

Anant Prasad, who had boarded the express from Siliguri

around 5.30am the same day and was lodged in AC-III

for the 840-odd kilometres, dubbed his experience

horrible.

"I had taken this train in October once and my journey

was anything but pleasant. But, given the December rush

in every other train, I had no choice again. The journey

from Kishanganj (fifth station from NJP) to Barauni

(11th station) was more like asking oneself whether I

was travelling in an unreserved coach. The train has 21

scheduled stops, but there were many more unscheduled

ones too. To top it all, you have the company of rodents

and insects. What a nightmare!" Prasad exclaimed.

Neeraj Kumar, senior divisional commercial manager of

Ranchi, sounded surprised when apprised of passenger

grievances. "These problems should not have

occurred in the first place. If they have, I will enquire

with departments concerned and ensure there is no

rerun," he said.

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Sniffing out browsing ants

Detector dogs with proven

success in sniffing out fire

ants in Queensland and

New South Wales are

about to be trained to see if

they can also detect

browsing ants, a new

exotic pest recently found

in the Darwin port area.

The National Red

Imported Fire Ant and

Electric Ant Eradication

Program based in Queensland has successfully used

odour detection dogs in Brisbane, Gladstone and Port

Botany in Sydney to eradicate Fire Ants. Detector

dogs are also used in north Queensland for

eradicating electric ants and the program is

collaborating with Hawaii on its electric ant

eradication program by offering expertise in using

dogs for surveillance.

Now they are offering a helping hand (or paw) closer to

home – the team has been visiting Darwin with a black

labrador detector dog called Willow and has been

working with the Northern Territory Department of

Primary Industry and Fisheries to establish a browsing

ant colony to produce odour that the dog can be trained

to recognise.

The Australian, Northern Territory and Queensland

governments have joined forces to support the

deployment and trial of the detector dogs in the fight

against browsing ants.

This sharing of expertise and resources shows how

Australia unites to get the job done and protect our

environment and agricultural industries from exotic

pests.

Biosecurity Bulletin - Edition 4, 2015

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7

Dow Chemical, DuPont Reach Deal on

Merger

December 11, 2015

The two companies will become DowDuPont. After

completing the deal, they plan to split into three

companies — one focused on agriculture, one on

material science and one on specialty products.

Dow Chemical and DuPont agreed to combine

operations, creating a chemical and agricultural giant

with a combined market value of about $130 billion.

The deal itself — valued at $68.6 billion — is among

the top 20 biggest mergers ever, USA Today reports.

The two companies will become DowDuPont. After

completing the deal, they plan to split into three

companies — one focused on agriculture, one on

material science and one on specialty products. They

estimated it would take up to two years to complete the

tax-free split. Until then, shareholders of each company

will hold 50% of the combined company.

Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris will become

executive chairman of the new entity, while DuPont

CEO Edward Breen will become chair and CEO.

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Bell Laboratories Debuts New

Corporate Video

MADISON, WIS - December 16, 2015

Bell Laboratories released a new corporate video that

spotlights their research, development and

manufacturing expertise. The short, three-minute video

was shot across Bell’s five-building campus in

Madison, Wis., and is intended to give customers an

inside look at day-to-day operations.

The video takes the audience behind the scenes, detailing

everything from mechanical trap assembly, to

rodenticide formulation and state-of-the-art injection

molding of Bell's family of tamper-resistant rodent bait

stations. For a bird’s eye view of Bell’s new warehouse,

drones were called in to give an aerial perspective of the

300,000 sq. ft. facility and surrounding 32-acres. Bell’s

work on rat eradication projects on islands around the

world is also featured in the video.

“From concept to final product, the video highlights the

most critical stages of product development and

manufacturing,” said Todd Butzow, Bell’s Vice

President of Marketing. “Each step being vital to Bell’s

assurance of uncompromising quality and efficacy for its

users, and all of which are performed at its operations in

Wisconsin.”

To view the video, visit: http://www.belllabs.com/corporate-video

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Copyright Notice !!

Items provided in "PPM News" are drawn from a

number of sources. The source of the item is quoted,

either by publication or organizations, in line with the

practice of fair reporting.

It is also relevant to note that neither the content of

articles nor comments of the Editor are necessarily

endorsed by FAOPMA or its office bearers

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