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Crop protection chemicals reference
79
Book Reviews
Crop Protection Chemicals Reference, 6th edn. ISBN 0-471-51641-4. (2121pp); U K price £73.85. New York, USA: Chemical and Pharmaceutical Press/ Wiley. 1990.
Consultants and distributors who advise farmers and other users which pesticide to use cannot hope to remember all the details of individual products. This weighty book (2.75 kg) provides the most detailed information on products available in the USA to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency regulations. The book is divided into several sections for easy reference. The first part, the yellow pages, lists trade names alphabeticaily, giving the name of the manufacturing company and the page in the main section where full details of the product are given. The second section (white pages) lists the manufacturers in the United States who participate in the publication of the book. This section has the address of the main office and branch offices in the USA, with a list of the trade names of its products. The following pink pages list the trade names of the products under an alphabetical list of common names. Next, on the blue pages, the products are listed according to the type of pesticide (desiccant, fungicide, etc.). Orange pages then allow the user to identify the pesticides permitted on individual crops or for non-crop use, followed by lists for each disease, insect pest or weed on the green pages. Before coming to the main section of the book, there are three appendices. The first (on blue pages) gives useful formulae for calibration and conversion factors, information on storage and a table with the EPA registration and description of hazard for shipping the product. Appendix 2 (also yellow pages) provides the addresses of Poison Control Centres, the Solid Hazardous Waste Agencies and Pesticide Control Officials and Extension Program leaders. The last appendix (pink) with safety information completes the first 207 pages of the book. The remaining 1914 pages provide the 'label' data in products for each of the companies represented. The restrictions on use of products are particularly important. While the book undoubtedly provides an impressive catalogue of the data needed by users of pesticides in the USA, and should provide a model for other countries, there are some important defects. A farmer with an aphid problem finds 64 products listed, including different formulations of the same active ingre-
dient and some products listed for a particular state or crop (e.g. 'Temik' 15 G is listed three times); other products are listed under individual aphid species. Although an asterisk indicates that there are some restrictions on the product, there is no indication at this stage which products are safer to use from the point of view of the operator or beneficial species, despite the need to encourage, products that are more acceptable in an integrated pest management programme. The reader has to follow up each product to get the detailed information. In contrast to the UK, where spray quality is now considered, there is relatively little information given on how the pesticides should be applied. Droplet sizes are mentioned for some products but curiously not in relation to a controlled droplet application. Minimum volumes of spray vary from as little as 1 gallon acre-1 (9.351 h a - 1 ) with aerial application, to over 400 gallons acre-1, depending on the product and crop. Some companies are not represented and some new products such as carbosulfan and teflubenzuron are also surprisingly absent. The book may be useful to those concerned with the registration of pesticides in countries outside the USA, but for the general user of pesticides, local guides will be much more appropriate. G. A. Matthews
Insects of Economic Importance: a Checklist of Preferred Names, compiled by A. M. Wood. ISBN 0-85198-652-8. (150pp; £12.50). Wallingford, Oxford: CAB International. 1989.
Editors of journals, and authors, often need to check the spelling of scientific names. This checklist provides an extremely useful single reliable reference for the most important species and genera of arthropods in the fields of agriculture, forestry and horticulture and is thus particularly relevant to readers of Crop Protection. We are now including this reference book in the 'Instructions for Authors' so that the latest names will be used in papers submitted to the Journal. The list is derived from research papers abstracted in the Review of Applied Entomology and the CAB abstracts and includes the pre-
ferred name and synonyms which have been used previously. G. A. Matthews
Crop Protection Information. An International Perspective, ed. by K. M. Harris and P. R. Scott. ISBN 0-85198-636-6 (320 pp; 78pp appendices; £35.00). Wallingford, Oxford: C.A.B. International. 1989.
This book is the proceedings of an international workshop on information dissemination in crop protection. The foreword points out that 'the supply of timely and authoritative information is more important for crop protection, including plant quarantine than for any other science' and goes on to emphasize the current revolution in information technology. Against this background this book is both timely and relevant. The book is sub-divided into three sections covering a background perspective, a crop perspective and a regional perspective and this is encompassed in 16 chapters. The background perspective occupies 20% of the book and reviews the information needs, its dissemination and future developments. This is an interesting review which is structured to be readable and informative, and sets the scene for the rest of the book. The crop perspective fills only another 20% of the book because only three crops are considered rice, wheat and coffee. Finally, there are regional perspectives which are international in their coverage with only the USSR, Australasia and parts of S. America omitted. An appendix completes the book with ten very valuable tables that give comprehensive lists of the many databases now available and these are cross-referenced by crop, pesticide, pest, management, geographical, bibliographical and alphabetical listings. The book will be a valuable addition to the libraries of the developing world, as well as in the more technologically advanced regions. There is something of relevance to all with an interest in crop protection and it does provide an essential guide to actions that need to be taken to help ensure future world supplies of food. Unfortunately, the index is insufficient to handle the masses of information held within the preceding 314 pages. R. G. Turner
CROP PROTECTION Vol. 10 February 1991
Book Reviews
Crop Protection Chemicals Reference, 6th edn. ISBN 0-471-51641-4. (2121pp); U K price £73.85. New York, USA: Chemical and Pharmaceutical Press/ Wiley. 1990.
Consultants and distributors who advise farmers and other users which pesticide to use cannot hope to remember all the details of individual products. This weighty book (2.75 kg) provides the most detailed information on products available in the USA to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency regulations. The book is divided into several sections for easy reference. The first part, the yellow pages, lists trade names alphabeticaily, giving the name of the manufacturing company and the page in the main section where full details of the product are given. The second section (white pages) lists the manufacturers in the United States who participate in the publication of the book. This section has the address of the main office and branch offices in the USA, with a list of the trade names of its products. The following pink pages list the trade names of the products under an alphabetical list of common names. Next, on the blue pages, the products are listed according to the type of pesticide (desiccant, fungicide, etc.). Orange pages then allow the user to identify the pesticides permitted on individual crops or for non-crop use, followed by lists for each disease, insect pest or weed on the green pages. Before coming to the main section of the book, there are three appendices. The first (on blue pages) gives useful formulae for calibration and conversion factors, information on storage and a table with the EPA registration and description of hazard for shipping the product. Appendix 2 (also yellow pages) provides the addresses of Poison Control Centres, the Solid Hazardous Waste Agencies and Pesticide Control Officials and Extension Program leaders. The last appendix (pink) with safety information completes the first 207 pages of the book. The remaining 1914 pages provide the 'label' data in products for each of the companies represented. The restrictions on use of products are particularly important. While the book undoubtedly provides an impressive catalogue of the data needed by users of pesticides in the USA, and should provide a model for other countries, there are some important defects. A farmer with an aphid problem finds 64 products listed, including different formulations of the same active ingre-
dient and some products listed for a particular state or crop (e.g. 'Temik' 15 G is listed three times); other products are listed under individual aphid species. Although an asterisk indicates that there are some restrictions on the product, there is no indication at this stage which products are safer to use from the point of view of the operator or beneficial species, despite the need to encourage, products that are more acceptable in an integrated pest management programme. The reader has to follow up each product to get the detailed information. In contrast to the UK, where spray quality is now considered, there is relatively little information given on how the pesticides should be applied. Droplet sizes are mentioned for some products but curiously not in relation to a controlled droplet application. Minimum volumes of spray vary from as little as 1 gallon acre-1 (9.351 h a - 1 ) with aerial application, to over 400 gallons acre-1, depending on the product and crop. Some companies are not represented and some new products such as carbosulfan and teflubenzuron are also surprisingly absent. The book may be useful to those concerned with the registration of pesticides in countries outside the USA, but for the general user of pesticides, local guides will be much more appropriate. G. A. Matthews
Insects of Economic Importance: a Checklist of Preferred Names, compiled by A. M. Wood. ISBN 0-85198-652-8. (150pp; £12.50). Wallingford, Oxford: CAB International. 1989.
Editors of journals, and authors, often need to check the spelling of scientific names. This checklist provides an extremely useful single reliable reference for the most important species and genera of arthropods in the fields of agriculture, forestry and horticulture and is thus particularly relevant to readers of Crop Protection. We are now including this reference book in the 'Instructions for Authors' so that the latest names will be used in papers submitted to the Journal. The list is derived from research papers abstracted in the Review of Applied Entomology and the CAB abstracts and includes the pre-
ferred name and synonyms which have been used previously. G. A. Matthews
Crop Protection Information. An International Perspective, ed. by K. M. Harris and P. R. Scott. ISBN 0-85198-636-6 (320 pp; 78pp appendices; £35.00). Wallingford, Oxford: C.A.B. International. 1989.
This book is the proceedings of an international workshop on information dissemination in crop protection. The foreword points out that 'the supply of timely and authoritative information is more important for crop protection, including plant quarantine than for any other science' and goes on to emphasize the current revolution in information technology. Against this background this book is both timely and relevant. The book is sub-divided into three sections covering a background perspective, a crop perspective and a regional perspective and this is encompassed in 16 chapters. The background perspective occupies 20% of the book and reviews the information needs, its dissemination and future developments. This is an interesting review which is structured to be readable and informative, and sets the scene for the rest of the book. The crop perspective fills only another 20% of the book because only three crops are considered rice, wheat and coffee. Finally, there are regional perspectives which are international in their coverage with only the USSR, Australasia and parts of S. America omitted. An appendix completes the book with ten very valuable tables that give comprehensive lists of the many databases now available and these are cross-referenced by crop, pesticide, pest, management, geographical, bibliographical and alphabetical listings. The book will be a valuable addition to the libraries of the developing world, as well as in the more technologically advanced regions. There is something of relevance to all with an interest in crop protection and it does provide an essential guide to actions that need to be taken to help ensure future world supplies of food. Unfortunately, the index is insufficient to handle the masses of information held within the preceding 314 pages. R. G. Turner
CROP PROTECTION Vol. 10 February 1991