Category: News

IOBC Writing Partnership

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Non-native English speakers sometimes need help in preparing scientific articles for publication in English language journals.

IOBC-Global is re-establishing a pool of volunteers to help review and edit such articles, especially for young scientists. The editing is only for clarity of English language. It does not constitute scientific advice and does not review the scientific quality of the work. It does not replace peer review.

Wanted: Volunteers to support IOBC members in English writing

If you are willing to volunteer as a writing partner, please contact the IOBC-Global Secretary General, indicating

  • Your areas of interest
  • Number of articles per year you would be willing to edit

IOBC members looking for a writing partnership

Eligibility criteria for authors who wish to benefit from the writing partnership:

  1. At least one author (preferably the lead author) must be a paying member of IOBC
  2. The service is intended for early career authors who have little experience in scientific writing, and have no access to paid editing services
  3. Authors can use the service only once

Contact: IOBC-Global Secretary General

Microbial and Nematode Control of Invertebrate Pests

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IOBC-WPRS Bulletin, Vol. 176, 2025

Working Group “Microbial and Nematode Control of Invertebrate Pests”
Proceedings of the 19th Meeting „Advanced Microbial Control Tools for Agroforest Challenges“ at Ponta Delgada (Azores), 08-11 September, 2024
Edited by: Eustachio Tarasco, Nelson Simoes, Enrique Quesada Moraga, Duarte Toubarro, Inmaculada Garrido Jurado, Miguel Lopez-Ferber, Rosa Murillo, Jirka Nermut, Vladimir Puza, Luca Ruiu, Dietrich Stephan.
ISBN 978-92-9067-363-7 [XV + 170 pp.].

Download ePublication: IOBC-WPRS Bulletin Vol. 176, 2025


Participants of the 19th meeting of the IOBC-WPRS WG “Microbial and Nematode Control of Invertebrate Pests”, 8-11 September 2024, Ponta Delgado, Azores, Portugal

Survey call on European olive farming

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As part of the international ECO-OLIVES project*, Tara and the ECO-OLIVES team are investigating how biodiversity, productivity, and sustainability interact in olive groves. Your knowledge and experience can help shape better-informed, practical recommendations to support more resilient olive farming systems.

The survey is open to olive farmers, advisors, researchers, cooperatives, NGOs, and policy experts – and takes just 10 to 15 minutes to complete. It is fully anonymous and GDPR-compliant.

Why your input matters: Your perspective helps us understand real-world practices and challenges in the olive sector.

What you receive in return: Participants can request a summary of the survey results with insights from across Europe.

👉 Take the survey now! Languages available:

With thanks and kind regards,

Tara Hanf-Dressler
Doctoral Researcher
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research | Department of Evolutionary Ecology
ECO-OLIVES project | IZW

*: The ECO-OLIVES research project is a collaboration between the Universities of Vienna (Austria), Sant’ Anna Pisa (Italy), and Würzburg (Germany), along with international partners and olive cultivation stakeholders. It aims to explore and strengthen the connections between biodiversity, ecosystem services, and productivity in olive groves. Both scientific insights and practical knowledge are crucial to achieving this goal.

EPPO-IOBC Panel on Biological Control Agents: New Publication

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The utilization of biological control against regulated pests in the EPPO region: challenges and opportunities

This manuscript has been developed by the Joint European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) and the International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control (IOBC) Panel on Biological Control Agents. It presents an assessment of the current use of classical and augmentative biological control against regulated plant pests and includes several case studies. It also discusses the challenges for the uptake of this pest management method for regulated pests, like pre-emptive biological control or contingency plans, and provides recommendations to increase the safe use of biological control agents in the EPPO region.

The utilization of biological control against regulated pests in the EPPO region: challenges and opportunities
R. Tanner, S. Bluemel, A. Kapranas, M. Kenis, D. Matosevic, N. Horn
First published: 04 February 2025
https://doi.org/10.1111/epp.13072

Integrated Protection of Olive Crops

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IOBC-WPRS Bulletin, Vol. 175, 2025

Working Group “Integrated Protection of Olive Crops”
Proceedings of the 10th Meeting at Baeza (Spain), 11-14 November, 2024
Edited by: Ana V. Lasa, Lucía Ruiz-Martos, Jesús Mercado-Blanco, Antonio J. Ortiz.
ISBN 978-92-9067-362-0 [XXI + 67 pp.].

Download ePublication: IOBC-WPRS Bulletin Vol. 175, 2025


Participants of the 10th conference of the IOBC-WPRS WG “Integrated Protection in Olive Crops” at Baeza (Spain)

Interview with the IOBC-Global President

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Take home message of the IOBC-Global President:
“Have a passion and follow it through with conviction!”

Dr. Raghu Sathyamurthy (CSIRO, Australia) was elected President of the IOBC-Global Executive Committee for 2025-2028.
In this interview, he introduces himself, outlines his career, lets the audience know what opportunities he sees for IOBC, tells what he wants to focus on during his term and much more. Last but not least, Raghu talks about what defines him as a private person, what his favorite hobby is and what he would like to pass on to the next generation of biocontrol scientists and practitioners.

IOBC-Global Newsletter Issue 116, Feb. 2025

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In this edition:

  • Introduction
  • Message from the new president and interview
  • News from the Regional Sections
  • Upcoming meetings from IOBC-Global Working Groups
  • Biocontrol related events
  • News from the Editor of BioControl
  • Obituary
  • Recently published books
  • Regional Sections of IOBC-Global
  • Working/Study Groups of IOBC-Global
  • Join IOBC

Download the Newsletter (pdf)

IOBC Promotes Research Beyond Political Borders

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Members of the IOBC-EPRS Regional Section are invited to join WPRS

While most of the regional sections of IOBC define their areas based on globally accepted geographic and climatic criteria, there has always been a debate on the border between the East- and the West Palearctic Regional Sections. Both sections have their core parts in Europe, and the border between them has been artificial since the beginning, mostly reflecting the political landscape from times of the “cold war”.

The Executive Committee and the Council of IOBC-Global decided at their General Assembly at San José in Costa Rica on June 23, 2024, that it is high time to end this separation. By doing this, IOBC aims to support exchange and collaboration between as many biocontrol scientists and practitioners as possible across the entire Palearctic region.

According to the Statutes of IOBC-Global, members may request affiliation to any Regional Section. The historical border between EPRS and WPRS is therefore not binding. As a first step, IOBC-WPRS invites partners from eastern European countries, with whom it is already co-operating in research activities and meetings, to change their affiliation. On a mid-term perspective, this process may lead to a formal merger of the two regional sections into one.

Join IOBC-WPRS now!

PhD Symposium „Biological Control of Arthropod Pests and Plant Diseases”

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IOBC-WPRS Bulletin, Vol. 174, 2024

Commission “Young IOBC-WPRS”
PhD Symposium „Biological Control of Arthropod Pests and Plant Diseases”
Abstracts of the 1st Meeting at IRTA, Cabrils, Barcelona (Spain), 22-25 April, 2024

Download ePublication: IOBC-WPRS Bulletin Vol. 174, 2024


Participants of the 1st meeting of the Commission “Young IOBC-WPRS” at IRTA, Cabrils, Barcelona (Spain), 22-25 April, 2024

Biocontrol Comic

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Biocontrol Comic

In this beautiful comic, the importance of the plant microbiota (in this case that of the olive tree), the biological control strategy, and the relevance of one of the most important diseases affecting olive cultivation (Verticillium wilt) are highlighted.

Click here to watch the high-resolution comic (pdf)

One of the most enjoyable ways to disseminate knowledge and scientific results is through comics. If this is accomplished without losing rigor, the contentment is complete.

Miriam Rivera Iglesias, an excellent scientific divulgator using this creative format (https://miriamriig.com; webpage in Spanish), generated this wonderful comic. Just after a couple of meetings and exchange of emails, she was able to capture in a few vignettes one of our ongoing research lines. For more information visit our website: https://grupos.eez.csic.es/mae

We trust the work and dedication of ‘Olivia’ excites you as much as we do. And feel free to spread this comic among your contacts!”

Read more about:

Integrated Protection of Stored Products (IPSP)

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IOBC-WPRS Bulletin, Vol. 173, 2024

Working Group “Integrated Protection of Stored Products (IPSP)”
Preceedings of the 14th Meeting at Novi Sad (Serbia), 16–20 September, 2024
Edited by: Jordi Riudavets, Sonja Gvozdenac, Željko Milovac.
ISBN 978-92-9067-360-6 [XIII + 187 pp.].

Download ePublication: IOBC-WPRS Bulletin Vol. 173, 2024


Participants of the 14th conference of the IOBC-WPRS WG “Integrated Protection of Stored Products” in Novi Sad (Serbia)

Integrated Control in Oilseed Crops

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IOBC-WPRS Bulletin, Vol. 172, 2024

Working Group “Integrated Control in Oilseed Crops”
Preceedings of the 19th meeting at Dresden (Germany), 10-11 September, 2024.
Edited by: Samantha M. Cook, Elke Diederichsen, Malgorzata Jedryczka, Kevin King, Jutta Ludwig-Müller and Małgorzata Wiewióra.
ISBN 978-92-9067-359-0 [XI + 186 pp.].

Download ePublication: IOBC-WPRS Bulletin Vol. 172, 2024


Participants of the 19th meeting of the IOBC-WPRS WG “Integrated Control in Oilseed Crops” in Dresden (Germany)

IOBC-Global Newsletter Issue 115, July 2024

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In this edition:

  • Message from the President
  • Third International Congress of Biological Control (ICBC3), 24-27 June 2024, San José, Costa Rica
  • Reports receivers IOBC travel awards to attend ICBC3
  • Report General Assembly 24 June 2024 San José, Costa Rica
  • Executive Committee 2025-2028
  • IOBC needs your help
  • Upcoming meetings from IOBC-Global Working Groups
  • Biocontrol related events
  • News from the Editor of BioControl
  • Regional Sections of IOBC-Global
  • Working/Study Groups of IOBC-Global
  • IOBC-Global Executive Committee 2020-2024
  • Join IOBC

Download the Newsletter (pdf)

EU IPM Toolbox Extended by IOBC-WPRS

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Farmer's Toolbox for Integrated Pest Management Extended by IOBC-WPRS IP/IPM Guidelines

The EU “Farmer’s Toolbox for Integrated Pest Management” is an interactive, online library of IPM resources designed for farmers and advisors. Topics and resources within the Toolbox include alternative agronomic practices, decision support systems, case studies, economic analysis and training guides alongside links to past and current IPM initiatives.

We are proud to announce that the original EU IPM database has been extended to cover 30 crop/sector specific IP/IPM guidelines from IOBC-WPRS!

The Toolbox is effectively a search engine. It allows users to discover relevant IPM resources from sources across Europe.
Currently a total of 273 IPM guidelines and 1342 IPM practices are accessible at https://datam.jrc.ec.europa.eu/datam/mashup/IPM

EU IPM Toolbox

Farmer’s Toolbox for Integrated Pest Management

The EU Pilot Project “Farmer’s Toolbox for Integrated Pest Management”, has the main objective to provide background knowledge on the most promising ways that could help farmers, advisors, and policymakers to scale up the reduction of the dependency on pesticide use across the EU, as advocated in the European Commission’s Farm to Fork Strategy and in the context of the European Green Deal.

As part of the project a database with IPM practices, techniques and technologies and with crop- and sector-specific IPM guidelines currently developed in the different member states was created.

Integrated Protection in Viticulture

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IOBC-WPRS Bulletin, Vol. 171, 2024

Working Group “Integrated Protection in Viticulture”
Proceedings of the Meeting at Logroño, La Rioja (Spain), 03-05 October, 2023.
Edited by: Christoph Hoffmann, Patrik Kehrli, René Fuchs, Tirtza Zahavi, Anna Markheiser, Jorge Sofia, Cesar Gemeno.
ISBN 978-92-9067-358-3 [VIII + 119 pp.].

Download ePublication: IOBC-WPRS Bulletin Vol. 171, 2024

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