Pest List Database for the Pacific

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Pest List Databasefor the Pacific
Ministry of Agriculture
September 2003

• Dick Vernon Makelesi Kora-Gonelevu
• SPC Plant Protection Service
• E-mail richardv_at_spc.int makelesig_at_spc.int

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Purpose of This Workshop

• To give participants
• knowledge of what the PLD is what it can do
• the ability to use it themselves
• For SPC to learn how it can be improved

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If you have an idea
or a question

• raise it at the moment
• or make a note and raise it at the end

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The PLD in Action
Once there was a farmer.
He could grow very fine taro of a special kind,
and wished to export them to Japan.
The authorities there said he had to supply them
with a list of all the pests and diseases ever
found on that crop in his country.
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The PLD in Action (cont.)

• The farmer almost gave up hope.
• But then someone said the Quarantine Service had
  a computer system that could do things like that.
• So, he visited the Quarantine office and
  presented his problem.
• Twenty minutes later he had his Pest List for
  Taro in his country.

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What Is the Pest List Database?

• An information system that
• - records pest occurrences within a country
• - provides a list of all pests found on a crop
• it may also record report pest interceptions at
  ports

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Interception is not an Occurrence

• Occurrences.
• pests found living in a country.
• Interceptions.
• pests found at (air)ports by Quarantine usually
  detected destroyed.
• The PLD keeps these two separate.

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It also keeps separate

• Public Records
• Those that have been authenticated by an
  internationally recognised authority
• Only Public records appear in Pest Lists
• Non-Public Records
• Those entered from farmers, extension staff, pest
  surveys etc, and not yet authenticated
• These do not appear in Pest Lists

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So Lets Look at the PLD
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Why a Pest List Database?

• Needed for the establishment of trade agreements
  to facilitate trade.
• Recommended by
• 1998 Pacific Plant Protection Organisation
  meeting.
• 1999 Regional Technical Meeting on Plant
  Protection.
• 2001 Plant Protection in the Pacific meeting.
• Required by International Plant Protection
  Convention, Article 7,2i (see next slide).

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International Plant Protection Convention
(Article 7,2i)

• Contracting parties shall, to the best of their
  ability,
• establish and update lists of regulated pests,
• using scientific names, and
• make such lists available to the Secretary,
• to regional plant protection organisations of
  which they are members and, on request,
• to other contracting parties.

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What else can the PLD do?

• Can provide
• - a list of hosts for any given pest
• - a list of all weeds found in a country
• a list of bibliographic references
• provided always, that

the appropriate data has been entered into the
system
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Who Uses It?

• Quarantine Plant Protection services
• The Director Senior staff
• should have access to it
• should be able to use it or know how to get what
  they need
• Frontline PP Q staff
• need to know how to use it
• enter data generate reports

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Progress to date

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Establishing country data sets

• SPC extracts from existing regional data sets
• - reports of earlier surveys, GPPIS, etc
• Countries supply their data
• New identifications
• Identify need for new surveys

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Pest Surveys

• Countries process existing records.
• SPC arranges identification of already available
  specimens (subject to funds).
• Once that process is completed, new surveys to be
  arranged as necessary.
• There should be an emphasis on crops with export
  potential or that are traded.
• The outcome of these activities will be public
  knowledge.

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In Conclusion

• We have provided an overview of the PLD
• Now open for questions discussion