In Portugal, the processing tomato is of great economical importance. The objective of the work carried out in the Ribatejo is to develop an IPM program, particularly to establish risk assessment methodologies and decision rules for the main enemies of the tomato crop. Of these main enemies the fruitworm (Helicoverpa armigera (Hbn)) is the key-pest. The method that is in validation is based on the techniques used in California and México. These methods allowed to reduce sprays and change to alternative control methods, in particular biological ones - Bt and Trichogramma pretiosum releases. This study presents the research fields, main targets and results during 2000 crop season. Risk assessment methodologies are described and presented the adopted decision rules. A study related with egg and parasitized egg’s spatial distribution on the plant and on the field. Eggs were preferentially on superior level, inferior foliar page, terminal leaflet and field quadrants near the passes. Parasitized eggs do not follow this pattern. It is also presented natural parasitism level and discussed the value of adults monitoring curve as a quantitative risk assessment method.

In Portugal, the processing tomato is of great economical importance. The objective of the work carried out in the Ribatejo is to develop an IPM program, particularly to establish risk assessment methodologies and decision rules for the main enemies of the tomato crop. Of these main enemies the fruitworm (Helicoverpa armigera (Hbn)) is the key-pest. The method that is in validation is based on the techniques used in California and México. These methods allowed to reduce sprays and change to alternative control methods, in particular biological ones - Bt and Trichogramma pretiosum releases. This study presents the research fields, main targets and results during 2000 crop season. Risk assessment methodologies are described and presented the adopted decision rules. A study related with egg and parasitized egg’s spatial distribution on the plant and on the field. Eggs were preferentially on superior level, inferior foliar page, terminal leaflet and field quadrants near the passes. Parasitized eggs do not follow this pattern. It is also presented natural parasitism level and discussed the value of adults monitoring curve as a quantitative risk assessment method.

Lasioderma serricorne (F.) and Ephestia elutella (Hb.) are the most serious pests of stored tobacco. Mainly are the larvae that feed on the product, may contaminate it with their excreta and cause damage on tobacco and allergic responses. The present work evaluated cigarette beetles and tobacco moths’ populations from the tobacco fields to the processing factories in Portugal using pheromone traps. Density, dispersion, risk assessment and the efficacy of making decisions based on economic thresholds were evaluated. For L. serricorne, the efficacy of mass-trapping using pheromone traps was studied. Sequential sampling for risk assessment was developed for processed tobacco and in a cigarette factory. These studies pretended to contribute for the integrated pest management of stored tobacco and also for the stored products in general, as the methodologies applied, with some adaptations, can be used for other pests and stored products.

Lasioderma serricorne (F.) and Ephestia elutella (Hb.) are the most serious pests of stored tobacco. Mainly are the larvae that feed on the product, may contaminate it with their excreta and cause damage on tobacco and allergic responses. The present work evaluated cigarette beetles and tobacco moths’ populations from the tobacco fields to the processing factories in Portugal using pheromone traps. Density, dispersion, risk assessment and the efficacy of making decisions based on economic thresholds were evaluated. For L. serricorne, the efficacy of mass-trapping using pheromone traps was studied. Sequential sampling for risk assessment was developed for processed tobacco and in a cigarette factory. These studies pretended to contribute for the integrated pest management of stored tobacco and also for the stored products in general, as the methodologies applied, with some adaptations, can be used for other pests and stored products.

This paper presents a DIagnostic Advisory Rule-based Expert System for Integrated Pest Management (DIARES-IPM) in Solanaceous crops. DIARES-IPM is an operational automatic identification tool that helps non-experts to identify pests (insects, diseases, nutritional deficiencies and beneficial insects) and suggest the appropriate treatments. The objective of this expert system was to serve as a diagnostic, extension and educational tool in vegetable IPM and it includes the most economically important diseases, insects (noxious and beneficial insects) and nutritional deficiencies that affect these crops. All the diagnostic knowledge is contained in an integrated knowledge base. This is of great importance for IPM, in which all the pests are to be taken into account if an appropriate management strategy is to be applied. The methodology can also be applied to other vegetable crops without needing to rewrite the core knowledge base, while the overall system design, with minor changes, could be applicable to pest diagnosis or pest risk assessment in any other agro-ecosystem. To implement DIARES-IPM, EXSYS tool for Windows was used and the knowledge is represented in the linguistic form of IF-THEN rules. The expert system has been evaluated following conventional expert system evaluation methodologies.

Although the ‘Economic Injury Level’ (EIL) concept belongs to the keystones of IPM theory, its applicability to all pest problems is believed not to be universal. Current IPM theory claims that the EIL concept is of limited use (i) in situations where an injury-damage function cannot be established, (ii) if pest monitoring is impossible or EIL is very low, and (iii) with preventive measures of pests and pathogens. In this work, I argue that the two latter points may not be true. First, within IPM all types of chemical treatment, including preventive ones, should be economically justified via calculation of EIL, based on the comparison of the cost of preventive and responsive control measures and the cost of the forecasted/expected damage. The ‘expected’ damage should be based on long-term (historical) damage records, manipulative experiments, risk assessment and biomathematical modelling of the evaluated pathosystem. Second, the absence of EIL in ‘preventively controlled pests’ hampers completion of the consistent Stern–Pedigo’s classification of pest organisms according to mutual position of EIL and General Equilibrium Position (GEP) or Stationary Distribution of Population Densities (SDPD).

We present an overview of USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) computer models and databases related to pest-management science, emphasizing current developments in environmental risk assessment and management simulation models. The ARS has a unique national interdisciplinary team of researchers in surface and sub-surface hydrology, soil and plant science, systems analysis and pesticide science, who have networked to develop empirical and mechanistic computer models describing the behavior of pests, pest responses to controls and the environmental impact of pest-control methods. Historically, much of this work has been in support of production agriculture and in support of the conservation programs of our action agency sister, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly the Soil Conservation Service). Because we are a public agency, our software/database products are generally offered without cost, unless they are developed in cooperation with a private-sector cooperator. Because ARS is a basic and applied research organization, with development of new science as our highest priority, these products tend to be offered on an as-is basis with limited user support except for cooperating R&D relationship with other scientists. However, rapid changes in the technology for information analysis and communication continually challenge our way of doing business.

Modern transportation and technology has shortened the movement of seeds in the international market, inadvertently increases the risk of trans-movement and introduction of pests. The introduction of exotic pest into a country can have a deleterious effect on its economy, particularly if infestation occurs on the economic commodity of the country. Hence, the role of plant quarantine is important in order to prevent the entry of exotic pests and diseases by regulating the import agriculture commodities Under the Plant Quarantine Act 1976 and Plant Quarantine Regulations 1981, an import permit is required for the importation of seeds into the country. Seed health issues are increasingly important in international seed trade. As a Member of World Trade Organization (WTO), Malaysia is obligated to fullfill the requirements of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement. The paper outlines the following: i) regulatory requirements for importation on various type of seeds into Malaysia, this includes restrictions and conditions for import, ii) some of the key elements in SPS Agreement such as the basic rights and obligations to take phytosanitary measures (PM), harmonization of PM, acceptance of equivalence, transparent in PM, risk assessment based on sciences and acceptance of pest free area, iii) effects if SPS Agreement on seed trade in Malaysia and iv) some implications of the SPS Agreement on Malaysian seed trade. Some of the pertinent constraints encountered by Department of Agriculture to implement SPS, Agreement are; inadequate information on plant health status, lack of resource and infrastructure in certain areas and the organizational need for more exposure and participation in international forum on SPS issues. To overcome the above affects, implications and constraints, currently efforts by Department of Agriculture are in progress towards the compliance with SPS measures such as, i) generating comprehensive pest data and plant health information, ii) improving strengthening and establishing R&D capacity as well as collaboration and support from R& D institutions and private industry to produce scientific output and iii) increase human resource development and upgrading plant quarantine infrastructure and facilities.

The unmitigated pest risk potential for the importation of unprocessed‍?logs and chips of 18 species of eucalypts (Eucalyptus amygdalina, E. cloeziana, E. delegatensis, E. diversicolor, E. dunnii, E. globulus, E. grandis, E. nitens, E. obliqua, E. ovata, E. pilularis, E. regnans, E. saligna, E. sieberi, E. viminalis, Corymbia calophylla, C. citriodora, and C. maculata) from Australia into the United States was assessed by estimating the likelihood and consequences of introduction of representative insects and pathogens of concern. Twenty-two individual pest risk assessments were prepared,‍?fifteen dealing with insects and seven with pathogens. The selected organisms were representative examples of insects and pathogens found on foliage, on the bark, in the bark, and in the wood of eucalypts. Among the insects and pathogens assessed for logs as the commodity, high risk potentials were assigned to the following 14 organisms or groups of organisms: leaf beetles (Chrysophtharta and Paropsis species, including C. agricola, C. bimaculata, P. atomaria, P charybdis, P. delittlei), ambrosia beetles and pinworms (Austroplatypus incompertus; Platypus australis, P. subgranosus, P. tuberculosus; Amasa truncatus; Ambrosiodmus compressus; Xyleborus perforans; Xylosandrus solidus; Atractocerus crassicornis, A. kreuslerae, Atractocerus sp.), round-headed wood borers‍?[Callidiopsis scutellaris; Coptocercus rubripes, Coptocercus sp.; Epithora dorsalis; Hesthesis cingulata; Macrones rufus; Phlyctaenodes pustulosus; Phoracantha (=Tryphocaria) acanthocera, P. (=Tryphocaria) mastersi, P. odewahni, P. punctipennis, P. (=Tryphocaria) solida, P. tricuspis; Scolecobrotus westwoodi; Tessaromma undatum; Zygocera canosa], ghost moths and carpenterworms [Abantiades latipennis; Aenetus eximius, A. ligniveren, A. paradiseus; Zelotypia stacyi; Endoxyla cinereus (=Xyleutes‍?boisduvali), Endoxyla spp. (=Xyleutes spp.)], true powderpost beetles (Lyctus brunneus, L. costatus, L. discedens, L. parallelocollis; Minthea rugicollis), false powderpost or auger beetles (Bostrychopsis jesuita; Mesoxylion collaris; Sinoxylon anale; Xylion cylindricus; Xylobosca bispinosa; Xylodeleis obsipa, Xylopsocus gibbicollis; Xylothrips religiosus; Xylotillus lindi), dampwood termite (Porotermes adamsoni), giant termite (Mastotermes darwiniensis), drywood termites (Neotermes insularis; Kalotermes rufinotum, K. banksiae; Ceratokalotermes spoliator; Glyptotermes tuberculatus; Bifiditermes condonensis; Cryptotermes primus, C. brevis, C. domesticus, C. dudleyi, C. cynocephalus), subterranean termites (Schedorhinotermes intermedius intermedius, S. i. actuosus, S. i. breinli, S. i. seclusus, S. reticulates; Heterotermes ferox, H. paradoxus; Coptotermes acinaciformis, C. frenchi, C. lacteus, C. raffrayi; Microcerotermes boreus, M. distinctus,‍?M. implicadus, M. nervosus, M. turneri; Nasutitermes exitiosis),‍?Botryosphaeria canker pathogen (Botryosphaeria ribis), Cryphonectria‍?eucalypti canker pathogen (Cryphonectria eucalypti), stain and vascular wilt fungi [Ceratocystis eucalypti, C. moniliformis, C. moniliformopsis, Ophiostoma pluriannulatum (or closely related species), Ceratocystis spp., Ophiostoma spp.; Chalara spp., Graphium spp., Leptographium lundbergii (anamorphic stages of Ophiostomataceae)], and the root-, sapwood-, and heart- rot fungi [Phellinus gilvus, P. noxius, P. rimosus, P. robustus, P. wahlbergii; Inonotus albertinii, I. chondromyeluis, I. rheades; Hymenochaete sp.; Stereum hirsutum; Fistulina spiculifera; Ganoderma lucidum;Gymnopilus junonius (= G. spectabilus, = G. pampeanus); Omphalotus nidiformis; Perenniporia medulla-panis; Piptiporus australiensis,‍?P. portentosus]. A moderate pest risk potential was assigned to four organisms or groups of organisms, including the gumleaf skeletonizer moth (Uraba lugens), foliar disease fungi (Aulographina eucalypti, Cryptosporiopsis eucalypti, Cylindrocladium spp., Phaeophleospora spp., Mycosphaerella spp., Quambalaria pitereka), Seiridium canker fungi (Seiridium eucalypti, S. papillatum), and the Armillaria root rot fungi (Armillaria fumosa, A. hinnulea, A. luteobubalina, A. novae-zealandiae, A.‍?pallidula). When chips were considered as the commodity, the risk‍?potentials remained high for the true powderpost beetles, false (auger) powderpost beetles, Cryphonectria eucalypti, the stain and vascular wilt fungi, and the root-, sapwood-, and heart-rot fungi; dropped from high to moderate for the ambrosia beetles and pinworms and for Botryosphaeria ribis; and dropped from high to low for the leaf beetles, the round-headed wood borers, ghost moths and carpenterworms, the dampwood termite, the giant termite, drywood termites, and subterranean termites. The risk potential for the Seiridium canker fungi remained at moderate, while the risk potential for the gumleaf skeletonizer moth, the foliar disease fungi and‍?the Armillaria root rot fungi dropped from moderate to low for the chip commodity. For those organisms of concern that are associated with logs and chips of Australian eucalypts, specific phytosanitary measures may be required to ensure the quarantine safety of proposed importations.

GM crops have become a test case for the conflicting slogans of 'the precautionary principle' versus 'sound science.' The issues can be illustrated by developments in regulatory science for Bt maize in the European Union. As this case study suggests, risk assessment is always framed by some account of the relevant uncertainties. These in turn depend upon how the environment is valued and how scientific questions are posed about cause-effect pathways of potential harm. The slogan of 'sound science' hides such judgements, by representing ignorance or value-judgements as 'science.' By contrast, precaution can challenge such judgements, identify new unknowns, generate different criteria for evidence, open up new scientific questions, and make these judgements more transparent. It is doubtful whether these complexities have been fully acknowledged by specialists, and thus whether the continued risk debate is due solely to a public misunderstanding of science.