IOBC-WPRS

Structure and Members

The commission on "Integrated Production, Protection and Biocontrol in North African Countries" has been officially established by the IOBC-WPRS Council on September 4, 2010. The commission has 5 members from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt:

• Ahmed MAZIH, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II (Agadir, Morocco)
• Abdelkrim SI BACHIR, Univ. Batna 2, (Batna, Algeria)
• Olfa EZZINE, National Research Institute of Rural Engineering, (Tunis, Tunisia)
• Esam ELGHADi,  Biotechnology Research Center (Tripoli, Libya)
• Ahmed H. EL-HENEIDY, Plant Protection Research Institute (Giza, Egypt)

Needs

North African countries are poorly represented in the different IOBC-WPRS activities carried out by the working groups, study groups and the commissions. In addition, most of the convenors and of the liaison officers are from the northern part of the Mediterranean sea.
The North African countries are regularly facing new diseases and pests. A cooperation among the North African countries and with European countries is more and more needed. During its last meeting (Vienna (22-23 January 2010), the IOBC-WPRS council approved the establishment of a new commission for North African countries (Morocco to Egypt).

Role

The main tasks of the commission are:

• Identify in each country the main agricultural universities, research institutions, associations/societies that are involved in agriculture and sustainable plant protection
• Establish a network among North African countries to promote biocontrol, IPM and IP in the region
• Contact potential stakeholders (such as government bodies, research institutes, commercial organizations and industries related to plant protection, production and exports) and make them familiar with the major activities and results of IOBC-WPRS.
• Identify special crop protection problems in North African countries to assist the region to develop and implement sustainable solutions.
• Organise regional workshops on plant protection, in collaboration with IOBC working and study groups

Actions

The main actions to undertake during the period 2010-2011 are:

• Editing a Brochure introducing the commission "Integrated production, Protection and Biological control for North Africa"
• Identify the commission members
• Prepare and Insert information in the IOBC-WPRS web side
• Prepare a survey form to be sent to the commission members and synthesis of the survey form
• Agreement on an activity program
• Meeting of the commission

Achievements

The results of the commissions activities are published in bulletins:

• IOBC-WPRS Bulletin Vol. 151, 2020 (pdf),

First International Congress on Biological and Integrated Control in Algeria (CILBIA1), jointly organized by the University of Batna (Algeria), the Scientific Association "Biology, Biodiversity and Sustainability" (BBD, Algeria) and the IOBC-WPRS Commission for "IP & Biocontrol in North-African Countries", 04.-06.02.2019 in Batna, Algeria.

Regional Symposium on the management of fruit flies in Near East countries, 06.-08.11.2012, Hammamet, Tunisia. Symposium organized jointly by FAO, FAO-IAEA, NEPPO, IOBC North Africa Commission, the GD Plant Protection in Tunisia and the Tunisian Association of Plant Protection.
http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/news-events-bulletins/detail/en/item/168261

EPPO/IOBC/FAO/NEPPO Joint International Symposium on management of Tuta absoluta, held in Agadir, Morocco, 2011-11-16/18

(Click on image to enlarge it.)
The proceedings have been published in the EPPO bulletin 42,2,203-343, 2012.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/epp.2012.42.issue-2/issuetoc#group1