This publication presents the proceedings of the Regional Technical Meeting on Seed Policy and Programmes in the Near East and North Africa, held in Larnaca, Cyprus from 27 June to 2 July 1999. The meeting was organised by the Agricultural Research Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus in collaboration with the Seed and Plant Genetic Resources Service of the FAO. In line with the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action, the meeting recognised that one of the major challenges facing most countries in the Near East and North Africa is the need to invest significant resources in strengthening their capacity to increase the availability of good quality seeds of a wider range of plant varieties. This will contribute to the maximisation of both agrobiodiversity and productivity, in order to achieve national food security while reducing environmental degradation and the depletion of natural resources. The meeting proposed and agreed to establish a Regional Consultative Forum on Seed Policy and Programmes for the Near East and Africa (CFS-NENA). The forum will facilitate intercountry scientific and technical co-operation on seed production and supply, and promote crop genetic resources evaluation, conservation and utilisation in the region.

FAO Plant Production and Protection Papers Greenhouse crop production is an increasing trend throughout the world, with some 405 000 ha of greenhouses spread across Europe. This publication builds on know-how and experience from the South East European region to serve as a guide for trainers and a technical reference for producers and other stakeholders.

Stored products of agriculture and animal origin are attacked by more than 600 species of beetles, 70 species of moths, and about 355 species of mites, causing huge quantitative and qualitative losses and insect contamination in food commodities. This is an important quality control problem. This book, Insect Pests of Stored Grain: Biology, Behavior, and Management Strategies, provides comprehensive coverage of stored product entomology for the sustainable management of insects and other noninsect pests, such as mites, birds, rodents, and fungi, with the aim to mitigate and eliminate these losses of food from grains. The author, who has studied sustainable and herbal management of stored grain and seed insect pests in his research, considers sustainable management of stored grain insect pests and eco-friendly approaches along with the utilization of waste materials. Starting with a history of stored product entomology from the beginning to the modern era in detail along with an introduction of storage entomology, the book then goes on to cover a range of important issues, including Significant developments in the field of storage entomology Classification and identification of important stored grain insects Major stored product coleopteran and lepidopteran insects that infest stored commodities Estimation of losses caused by stored grain insect pests Factors responsible for infestation of stored grain insects Different storage structures Alternative methods for the management of stored grain insects by utilization of behavior modification techniques or utilization of secondary metabolites of plants Fumigation of stored grains for the protection of infestation Insect Pests of Stored Grain: Biology, Behavior, and Management Strategies covers a vast amount of valuable information on stored product entomology for the sustainable management of insects and other noninsect pests.

Part 1 of this report contains summaries of the evaluations of residues in food of the various pesticides considered, together with the recommendations made. Annex 1 contains updated ADIs, PTDI, MRLs, ERLs, STMR and HR levels. Monographs on toxicological evaluations are available as a companion volume.

During the meeting the FAO Panel of Experts was responsible for reviewing pesticide use patterns (good agricultural practices), data on the chemistry and composition of pesticides and methods of analysis for pesticide residues and for estimating the maximum residue levels that might occur as a a result of the use of pesticides according to good agricultural practices. The WHO Core Assessment Group was responsible for reviewing toxicological and related data and for estimating, where possible, acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) of pesticides for humans. This report contains information on ADIs, maximum residue limits (MRLs) and general principles for the evaluation of pesticides. The supporting documents (on residues and toxicological evaluations) contain detailed monographs on these pesticides and include comments on analytical methods.