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Title: SUMMARY OF THE COORDINATED RESEARCH PROJECT.

Author
item Follett, Peter

Submitted to: IAEA/FAO Final Research Coordination Meeting on Irradiation as a Phytosanitary Treatment for Food and Agricultural Comodities Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/2003
Publication Date: 11/20/2004
Citation: Follett, P.A. 2004. Summary of the coordinated research project.. IAEA/FAO Final Research Coordination Meeting on Irradiation as a Phytosanitary Treatment for Food and Agricultural Comodities Proceedings, Vienna, IAEA-Techdoc 1427.

Interpretive Summary: Abstract only.

Technical Abstract: In total, the participants conducted research on 28 important quarantine pests. The CRP produced a number of 'firsts' in the application of irradiation for control of regulatory insect and mite pests. The first large-scale confirmatory tests for several non-fruit fly pests (e.g. codling moth) were reported. The group reported several extensive studies on the response of mites to irradiation, including the first ever study of an eriophyid mite. The methodologies developed to handle these tiny pests are a significant achievement, and the doses found for the different developmental stages of mites are important new findings. In one case a combination treatment using irradiation and low temperature was developed for the false red mite, Brevipalpus chilensis, under commercial conditions. The first commercial shipment of cut flowers using irradiation as part of a quarantine treatment was successfully completed between Thailand and Australia. The treatment combined irradiation with a chemical dip and cold storage to control thrips in Dendrobium orchids. Several packaging materials were identified that prevent reinfestation of pistachios and dates by Indianmeal moth and sawtoothed grain beetle. One of the projects resulted in the first approval and commercial use of irradiation against a non-fruit fly pest (sweetpotato weevil), and another project produced an approved irradiation treatment for the mango seed weevil, a non-fruit fly pest of international importance. The mango seed weevil irradiation treatment was significant because limited data were used to establish a conservative dose of 300 Gy.