Bee deaths need analysing

Alarm bells are ringing all over the world about the death of bee populations. Although it is not known exactly how severe the decline is, it is important to take the problem seriously. The signals are alarming and the bee is important, not just for natural ecosystems but also for the pollination of most vegetable crops and fruit trees. The bee needs a varied diet to stay healthy, and one cause of the rising death rate may be a lack of variety in the available food sources. But that is just one piece of the jigsaw puzzle; there are probably several factors involved in the decline. We should also look into the limited genetic variation in the bee, the impact of the varroa mite, the use of pesticides and the way knowledge is shared, since the death rate seems to be far higher for some beekeepers than for others. Neonicotinoids have been in the limelight recently, with some researchers claiming that this group of insecticides is the main reason for the rising bee death rate. Some neonicotinoids are certainly highly toxic to bees. The danger in the wild lies in the combination of toxicity and exposure. As a precaution, a number of European countries have banned the use of this substance in sunflowers, for example, because this crop attacts large numbers of bees. And yet it is far from conclusively proven that these are the culprits, as was clear in a United Nations report of March 2011 which pointed to a complex of possible factors. So let us not jump to premature conclusions or start sketching disaster scenarios. Instead, let us really find out how things stand. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation will probably facilitate a thorough analysis of the situation, under the guidance of a broad steering committe

'De quarantainelijst kan veel korter'

Beleidsmakers kennen maar twee soorten ziekteverwekkers: wel en geen quarantaine- organismen. Die strikte onderverdeling is volgens Piet Boonekamp van Plant Research International lang niet altijd te rechtvaardigen met biologische kennis. Hij pleit daarom voor realistische maatregelen die uitgaan van ziektebestrijding, en niet van handelsbelange

Uitgekiend onderzoek voor geïntegreerde gewasbescherming

Binnen enkele jaren moeten alle boeren en tuinders in de EU overgaan op geïntegreerde gewasbescherming. Ook al is Nederland een eind op weg, zonder nieuw onderzoek lukt die omslag niet, stelt Piet Boonekamp van Wageningen UR

Monitoring groene grondstoffen

Het Platform Groene Grondstoffen heeft een monitoringsmethodiek laten ontwikkelen waarmee het aandeel biomassa dat bijdraagt aan de economie kan worden vastgesteld. Dit rapport beschrijft hoe de monitor is ontwikkeld en waar nog hiaten in de kennis zitten

LNV Gewasbeschermingsonderzoek 2002 -2005

Hoofdlijn van het nieuwe beleid in 'Zicht op gezonde teelt'is geïntegreerde teelt op gecertificeerde bedrijven. In 2005 dient 90% van de bedrijven hieraan te voldoen. Het gewasbeschermingsonderzoek dient een wezenlijke bijdrage te leveren aan het ontwikkelen van geïntegreerde en biologische strategieën die leiden tot milieuvriendelijke gewasbescherming op gecertificeerde bedrijven. Rubrieken in dit artikel: 1) Vorming van de nieuwe programma's; 2) Programma-inhoud; 3) Samenhang met andere programma's; 4) Kennisoverdracht; 5) Toekoms

Integrated Pest Management 2.0

IPM 2.0 – Towards future-proof crop protection in Europe was een groot success. Het congres dat begin oktober 2012 in Wageningen werd gehouden was het tiende congres van de European Foundation for Plant Pathology (EFPP) en werd georganiseerd door de KNPV

'Aardappel wint nooit van phytophthora'

De milieubelasting van bestrijdingsmiddelen tegen phytophthora is met driekwart afgenomen en dat is mede te danken aan het Parapluplan Phytophthora dat telers, overheid en wetenschappers tien jaar geleden zijn gestart. Dat zegt Piet Boonekamp die het wetenschappelijke onderzoeksdeel leidde

Societal Costs of Late Blight in Potato and Prospects of Durable Resistance Through Cisgenic Modification

In the European Union almost 6 Mha of potatoes are grown representing a value of close to ¿6,000,000,000. Late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans causes annual losses (costs of control and damage) estimated at more than ¿1,000,000,000. Chemical control is under pressure as late blight becomes increasingly aggressive and there is societal resistance against the use of environmentally unfriendly chemicals. Breeding programmes have not been able to markedly increase the level of resistance of current potato varieties. New scientific approaches may yield genetically modified marker-free potato varieties (either trans- and/or cisgenic, the latter signifying the use of indigenous resistance genes) as improved variants of currently used varieties showing far greater levels of resistance. There are strong scientific investments needed to develop such improved varieties but these varieties will have great economic and environmental impact. Here we present an approach, based on (cisgenic) resistance genes that will enhance the impact. It consists of five themes: the detection of R-genes in the wild potato gene pool and their function related to the various aspects in the infection route and reproduction of the late blight causing pathogen; cloning of natural R-genes and transforming cassettes of single or multiple (cisgenic) R-genes into existing varieties with proven adaptation to improve their value for consumers; selection of true to the wild type and resistant genotypes with similar qualities as the original variety; spatial and temporal resistance management research of late blight of the cisgenic genetically modified (GM) varieties that contain different cassettes of R-genes to avoid breaking of resistance and reduce build-up of epidemics; communication and interaction with all relevant stakeholders in society and transparency in what research is doing. One of the main challenges is to explain the different nature and possible biological improvement and legislative repercussions of cisgenic GM-crops in comparison with transgenic GM-crops. It is important to realize that the present EU Directive 2001/18/EC on GM crops does not make a difference between trans- and cisgenes. These rules were developed when only transgenic GM plants were around. We present a case arguing for an updating and refinement of these rules in order to place cisgenic GM-crops in another class of GM-plants as has been done in the past with (induced) mutation breeding and the use of protoplast fusion between crossable species. Keywords Cisgenesis - Cloning - Communication - Late blight - Phytophthora infestans - Potato - Resistance management - Selection - Transformatio