Facts about the Joint FAO/IAEA Programme

  • General
  • Q: 'Nuclear' in what sense?
  • Animal Production and Health (APH)
  • Q: Which nuclear techniques can be used in animal production research for enhancing livestock productivity?
  • Q: Which molecular techniques can be used in animal production research for enhancing livestock productivity?
  • » On Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics (PBG)
  • Q: To which extent is radiation used in plant breeding today?
  • Q: How do induced mutants compare to spontaneous mutants in crop improvement?
  • Q: What's the role of marker-aided selection (MAS) in crop improvement in LIFDCs?
  • Q: What are the current and future trends in Plant Breeding?
  • Insect Pest Control (IPC)
  • Q: Are Sterile Insects that have been Irradiated Radioactive?
  • Q: Is the SIT a stand-alone technology?
  • Q: Is Eradication Necessary when Using the Sterile Insect Technique?
  • In a majority of SIT applications the objective is not eradication. There are four strategic options, "suppression", "containment", "eradication", and "prevention", in which the sterile insect technique (SIT) can be deployed as part of area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) interventions (Hendrichs et al. 2005). Considerations of pest status, biology and distribution affect decision-making in relation to strategy selection and determine feasibility assessment, and programme planning and implementation. Unrealistic expectations of eradication were often associated with applying the SIT, resulting in high political costs to change a strategy during implementation. The choice of strategy needs to be assessed carefully, and considerable baseline data obtained to prepare for the selected strategy, before embarking on an AW-IPM programme with an SIT component.
    Until the early 1990s, the SIT was generally considered an appropriate technique for eradicating certain insect pests. This view largely resulted from the high visibility of the successful screwworm eradication programme in North and Central America, and the assumption that the SIT was too expensive to compete with other control methods for routine pest management. In recent years, however, suppression of an insect pest is increasingly being viewed as a suitable strategy due to: (1) crucial improvements made in the rearing techniques for some key insect species, which have significantly improved the cost-effectiveness of the SIT, (2) increased restrictions imposed on the use of insecticides, (3) increased intermingling of commercial production areas and human settlements which complicates the routine use of insecticides, (4) increased customer demand for "organic" products, and (5) difficulties in establishing effective quarantine measures to maintain an area pest free (Hendrichs et al. 1995).
    Suppression can be achieved more quickly than eradication, is less complex, demanding, and management intensive, and therefore less expensive in the initial years. However, a suppression strategy requires continuing releases of sterile insects to maintain the low population level.
    One major advantage of applying a suppression strategy is the significantly lower investment needed to monitor the pest population as compared with the intensive monitoring required in an eradication campaign. Moreover, the set-up and rigorous implementation of effective quarantines (which demand legislation and considerable investment) to maintain a pest free area are not needed or demand less attention and resources when a suppression strategy is applied. Another strength of the suppression strategy is the focus on environmental benefits compared with conventional control methods (no longer disrupting the biological control of secondary pests). This strategy has gained acceptance mainly for pest insects of phytosanitary importance, since a certain level of "crop damage" to agricultural commodities is usually acceptable. However, this concept is much less applicable to insect pests of veterinary, and particularly medical, importance.

    (FAO) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2004. Requirements for the establishment of areas of low pest prevalence. ISPM Standards Committee (draft), November 2004, International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). FAO, Rome, Italy.
    Hendrichs, J., M. J. B. Vreysen, W. R. Enkerlin, and J. P. Cayol. 2005. Stategic options in using sterile insects for area-wide integrated pest management. In V. A. Dyck, J. Hendrichs and A. S. Robinson (eds.), Sterile insect technique. Principles and practice in area-wide integrated pest management. Springer, Heidelberg, Germany.
    Hendrichs, J., G. Franz, and P. Rendon. 1995. Increased effectiveness and applicability of the sterile insect technique through male-only releases for control of Mediterranean fruit flies during fruiting seasons. Journal of Applied Entomology 119: 371-377.
    (USDA) United States Department of Agriculture. 1997. Quarantine security for commodities: current approaches and potential strategies. Proceedings of Joint Workshops of the Agricultural Research Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, USA.
  • Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition (SWMCN)
  • Q: What isotopic and nuclear techniques are commonly used to study soil and water management and crop nutrition?
  • Q: I would be interested in receiving training in the use of nuclear techniques to evaluate water management and crop nutrition. How should I proceed?