Biolabs: Replacing pesticides with biological control

A central tenet of IPM is to use biological pest controls whenever possible. As we have visited the region over the last five years, we have learned about their long history of using predatory and parasitic insects to control crop pests. Since Soviet times, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have relied on biolabs to rear and supply natural enemies for biological control, particularly in cotton. These labs produce many organisms, including: a tiny wasp called Trichogramma that attacks caterpillar eggs, green lacewings that eat aphids, and helpful microbes that promote healthy root growth by excluding harmful bacteria.

Typically a government-assisted central lab supplies smaller village labs. At one time, there were over 800 community-based biolabs operating in Uzbekistan alone. Formerly part of the collective farming system, many labs are now private businesses.

Two members of our team are focused on expanding the product line for the biolabs. Dr. Frank Zalom (Univ. California -Davis) and his post-doc Dr. Barno Tashpulatova have been developing simple methods for rearing predatory mites. These mites are very effective at controlling pest mites and thrips in field and greenhouse crops. Based in Uzbekistan, Barno has developed methods to rear these predators on easy to grow grain flour mites. She enhances their health by supplementing their diet with plant pollen. This system has proven very reliable and has been adopted by the central biolab in Kyrgyzstan who is now able to generate income by sales of this new product.


Barno, Frank and an associate at the central biolab. Below, staff explain rearing procedures.

Meeting the farmers of tomorrow's future

Here are the pictures we promised from our visit to the student field school farms. I was privileged to have lunch with these students. They are curious and bright young people. I hope to write more about that lunch later.


Students display information about farming with the landscape ecology team of the IPM Project.

One of the student's teachers explains how the hoophouse keeps plants warm despite some snow. New tomato plants sitting in the hoophouse are visible to the left at her feet.

MSU's George Bird receives a plant from the student organic farm.
A bed frame helps process compost at the student farm.

Most farmers are women. This baby bed is hanging from the barn rafters ready to be lowered for use if needed in the field.

MSU student organic farm inspires Kyrgyz spin-off

The Central Asia IPM Forum has begun. One fascinating presentation was by Dr. Murat Aitmatov and his students from the Kyrgyz Agrarian University. Murat visited Michigan State University in 2007 as a guest of Drs. George Bird and Walt Pett (MSU Entomology) who co-lead the extension and outreach component of the IPM CRSP project. At MSU, Murat visited the MSU Student Organic Farm, and according to George Bird, nearly filled a notebook with drawings and notes on what he saw. From what he saw at MSU, Murat created what he calls “Student Field Schools,” an adaptation of farmer field schools he uses to educate Kyrgyz farmers.

In a Student Field School, a small group of students plant small plots of produce and meet weekly to learn and practice best Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques. This includes selecting the best cultivars, growing pest-free seedlings for transplant, weekly scouting, manipulating natural enemies (beneficial insects and other sources), and harvesting and selling the fruits and vegetables.

One very unique aspect of the project was a direct result of our collaboration. While at the MSU Student Organic Farm, Murat learned of Dr. John Biernbaum’s (MSU Horticulture) work on growing season extension using plastic hoophouses. These allow growers to produce vegetables for most months of the year. Murat and his students have modified this technique for Kyrgyzstan’s environment. They use the heat from composting manure to warm small hoophouses they create from bent willow sticks and plastic sheeting. In this way, they are able to grow vegetables even when there is snow on the ground. This afternoon, we are looking forward to visiting these schools and seeing first-hand this offspring from the MSU student farm. I hope to have pictures to post from that field trip.

Agriculture means food in every country

Friday and Saturday are the weekend in Syria with Friday being the Islamic holiday. Mustafa invited us to lunch at his apartment in Aleppo today. He is Moroccan and wanted us to eat couscous, a grain dish popular in his country. The couscous was steamed and served with beef and vegetables like pot roast – very delicious. Cherries and oranges were the dessert. Food is eaten in season here so cherries are everywhere and taste like they do at home. This is earlier than our cherry harvest in Michigan. Another evening in a restaurant we ate cherry kabobs which were roasted meatballs (lamb?) in a cherry sauce based with grenadine syrup. I don’t know if the Michigan cherry industry has tried this or not? Most of the food here reminds me of the Middle Eastern restaurants we have in East Lansing. They commonly serve pita, humus, olives, kabobs, yogurt, and various salads with tomatoes, cucumbers, and parsley.

Today the rest of the Central Asia IPM project is gathering with us in the Istanbul airport for the flight to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.


Mustafa, dressed in Moroccan robes, with the couscous meal he hosted at his home.


Mustafa demonstrates the method of pouring tea in Morocco which requires pouring from high in the air.

Saving the world's seeds with science

I asked Doug to report on our visit to the seed bank at ICARDA:

Today we visited ICARDA's germplasm storage facility. Here, they have collected and stored over 100,000 samples of different wild and cultivated varieties of wheat, barley, chickpea, lentil and faba bean. These species represent major staple food crops for a large portion of the worlds human population. By saving the wide array of these crops genetic diversity, they ensure the food security for future generations. For example, should a severe regional catastrophe or war wipe out a crop for several years, having these seeds in storage literally ensures a future for humankind.

From the moment you enter the facility, you sense the seriousness with which they take this mission. One almost has the feeling of entering sacred ground. The facility consists of one very low temperature and a long-term storage with larger supplies stored for near-term use at more moderate conditions. Temperature and humidity are constantly monitored as is the quality and viability of the seeds over time. ICARDA freely makes these seeds available to researchers and crop breeders throughout the world as they seek to improve these crops.

We also learned that a duplicate set of the entire collection is housed at a sister research center in Mexico, and a third collection is being amassed at the new Global Seed Vault at Svalbard, Norway, a remote island in the Arctic. While no one wants to contemplate the conditions under which these resources may be needed, it is reassuring to know that someone has.



Seeds in storage.




Research plot that requires hand harvesting.



Sheep herd for ICARDA breed research.

Communicating at the multi-cultural ICARDA

We've met people from around the globe working and visiting ICARDA from Sudan, Iraq, Morocco, Australia, the Netherlands, and Columbia. English is the common written language. Since I am an IPM communications manager, I had an appointment with Dr. Zaid Abdul-Hadi, the head of the unit that includes publications. ICARDA has good resources: poster printers, photographers, a science writer and an art department. Many publications are printed in Arabic and English. The binding of the two translations is opposite, as Arabic is read right to left and English, left to right. English readers would find the Arabic pages are in reversed order.

I asked about Internet use, thinking perhaps connecting to web sites via cell phone might be common. Cell phone use has been quickly adopted in the region. For example, I am told prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq had no cell phones. One year later, Iraqis were using over 7 million cell phones. However, like most Americans, few use phones for web browsing and data.

Visit to ICARDA

The past couple of days we have toured ICARDA and spoken with their staff. The area served by ICARDA includes 1 billion people with 700 million of them living in poverty. ICARDA is working to make agriculture in these countries more productive and sustainable for the people and the environment. Their work takes special consideration of women and children as they are the first segment of the population to be affected when resources are limited. Women also do most of the farm work. ICARDA has a world class seed bank and much of the work we saw focused on wheat, fava beans, chickpeas and other important food sources.

We visited field plots where Dr. Mustafa El Bohissini and his students are growing medicinal plants to learn which are most attractive to beneficial insects (those that attack insect pests). Doug Landis’ work in Michigan has involved planting native plants along fields to attract beneficial insects. In Michigan, the fields are large and it is less difficult to convince a farmer to plant a non-crop plant along a field edge or in less productive areas. Here, farming is more common in small plots, so they hope to convince farmers to plant medicinal plants that can both increase biodiversity and also be harvested for profit.



Mustafa and a graduate student with Doug Landis examine medicinal plants being tested for their ability to to attract beneficial insects.



Mustafa and some of his staff in the entomology section of ICARDA.



On our return to the city, we stopped at Aleppo's citadel, the world's largest. Aleppo, Damascus and Jericho seem to be equally considered the oldest contiguous city in the world. The citadel was built in 1210 and the city was started sometime between 5,000 and 11,000 BC.



View of the city from the citadel. Apartment roofs are covered with satellite dishes.