The East African Community (EAC) has approved harmonized guidance for human-health, aquatic and terrestrial ecological risk assessment of conventional pesticides used in agriculture and forestry. The guidance provides a common scientific framework for eight Partner States and draws on internationally recognized approaches, including OECD test guidelines and established exposure and risk assessment methods. This article explains the structure of the human-health and ecological frameworks, the role of tiered assessment and risk mitigation, and the potential benefits of a shared regional methodology. It also considers the institutional, legal, technical and data-management challenges that will influence implementation. Consistent application, assessor training, regional peer review and compatible digital dossier systems will be important if scientific harmonization is to produce more predictable regulatory decisions and comparable protection of human health and the environment across the EAC. The East African Community (EAC) has developed harmonized guidance documents for human-health, and aquatic and terrestrial ecological risk assessment of conventional pesticides used in agriculture and forestry (EAC, n.d.a; n.d.b). Recently approved by the relevant EAC sectoral body, the guidance provides the eight Partner States with a common, science-based methodology for evaluating pesticide risks to humans and non-target organisms. It represents one of the most concrete technical steps toward the region’s long-standing objective of harmonized pesticide regulation.
Garlic mustard ( Alliaria petiolata ) is a rapidly spreading biennial invasive species in North American forests that displaces native understory plants. This paper reviews its life cycle, ecological impacts, control methods, and identifies key knowledge gaps such as seedbank behaviour and decreased control caused by leaf litter limiting treatment contact, along with areas for future research.
Wheat Dwarf Disease (WDD), caused by wheat dwarf virus (WDV), is an emerging and increasingly serious disease affecting cereal crops in the UK, particularly autumn-sown wheat and barley. Although previously considered a minor issue, recent surveys in 2025–26 clearly highlight that WDV is far more widespread than earlier believed, with confirmed cases across East Anglia, the Midlands, York shire, Cheshire and Berkshire. The virus is transmitted by one main UK vector, the leafhopper Psammotettix alienus, and can cause yield losses of up to 100%, especially when crops are infected early. WDV symptoms are often confused with those arising from infection with barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV), which is believed to have led to under-reporting in the past. However, WDV typically presents as a more random “salt and pepper” pattern across fields rather than distinct patches. Early infection causes severe stunting, yellowing and/or reddening of leaves, poor root development, and even plant death, whereas later infection is considered to reduce grain size and yield. The main disease spread in cereals occurs when virus carrying winged adult leafhoppers migrate into crops in the autumn. Warmer conditions appear to favour both the vector and virus, contributing to increased incidence. Notably, current control options are extremely limited: there are no approved insecticides targeting leafhoppers in cereals, and current standard treatments for aphids (used to control BYDV) are proving ineffective. Agronomic factors play a key role in disease risk. Early sowing and low seed rates are associated with higher infection levels, while later sowing and higher plant densities may reduce vulnerability. Overall, WDV represents a significant and growing threat to UK cereal production, requiring further research into virus/vector ecology, WDV characterisation and the validation of management strategies, including cultural controls, resistant varieties, and improved monitoring. There exists an increasing urgency to commence such work to tackle this threat, especially amidst changing climate conditions.
The increasing demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly pest control methods has led to growing interest in the development of new plant-based pesticides. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of oils from Allium sativum , Annona muricata , Azadirachta indica , and the isolated compound d-limonene, as well as their combinations, in managing Tetranychus urticae . Bioassays were conducted on adults and eggs using 2% dilutions of the oils and the isolated compound, and exposure was achieved by direct spray and residual. The results showed that all oils individually exhibited significant efficacy against T . urticae in both exposure routes. All oils affected egg viability, reducing larval hatching rates. The combinations of oils resulted in higher adult mortality rates by spray exposure. Egg viability was reduced by up to 100% in the treatment combining A . sativum , A . muricata , and A . indica . The vegetable oils studied, particularly when combined, contribute to the development of more effective and environmentally safe strategies for managing T . urticae .
It was inevitable that OPM would eventually be introduced into the United Kingdom on infested oak tree planting material and in retrospect equally inevitable that it would establish and spread as it subsequently has. At that time (2005/6) the UK was a member of the European Union and as such, bound by the doctrine of free trade in goods and services among member states: someone had apparently forgotten to mention that living plant material can carry pests and diseases. By 2010 oak processionary moth had a firm foothold in London, was spreading rapidly and clearly not to be shifted. Pesticide spraying had been ongoing for almost five years and having some impact, but not enough to significantly slow the spread of OPM, let alone rid the UK of this alien invasive insect pest.
