Insects Limited to co-host conference in Zimbabwe

Insects Limited Inc. and Fumigation Service & Supply Inc. will host the 14th Fumigants & Pheromones Conference at Elephant Hills Resort in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on May 12-14, 2020.

Photo courtesy of Insects Limited

The Fumigants & Pheromones Conference was started in 1993 in Lubeck, Germany. Its purpose was to gather like-minded companies together under a common cause: “Sharing Through Education.”

Since the first conference in Germany, biennial meetings took place in Bologna, Italy; Valencia, Spain; Copenhagen, Denmark; Thessaloniki, Greece; Adelaide, Australia; Indianapolis, Ind., United States; York, England; Monterrey, Mexico; and Bremen, Germany. The 2020 conference is the first one held in Africa.

The conference will offer new information and technologies regarding ways to protect stored products. A number of speakers will present on May 12-13. The first day’s lineup of speakers and their presentation topics include:

• Keith Delport, CEO of Fumigacao Tabaco Lda based in Mozambique — fumigation of tobacco and stored products in Africa
• Dr. Rizana Mahroof, South Carolina State University — cigarette beetle pheromone research and field application
• Dr. Spencer Walse, U.S. Department of Agriculture — phosphine fumigant resistance; natural products discovery and utilization
• Dr. Brighton Mvumi, University of Zimbabwe — Prostephinus truncates, the larger grain borer; current research on stored product research in Africa
• Janet Rowley, international business leader at Douglas Products — international regulatory assessment of fumigant registration and worker protection; new fumigant registration in Africa
• Dr. Barb Nead-Nylander, senior research scientist at Douglas Products — results from recent testing of sulfuryl fluoride on stored tobacco

The backdrop for this three-day conference is Victoria Falls, which is considered one of the world’s natural wonders. An excursion to the falls and the Zambezi River will be held on May 14. Participants will have the opportunity to participate in roundtable discussions with individuals specializing in chemical and fumigation applications, as well as natural and organic methods of pest management.

“Much like our 12th Fumigants & Pheromones Conference in Adelaide, Australia, this stored product protection conference in Victoria Falls will reach an all new group of delegates,” says Dave Mueller, conference organizer. “In Adelaide, over 60 percent of the attendees were from Australia and most had never attended a Fumigants & Pheromones Conference before. That is why we decided to have this conference in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe — to reach a new group of people.”

Visit Insects Limited’s website for more information and conference registration. The conference’s schedule of events can be found here. Early registration for the conference ends April 1, 2020.