SPECIAL AWARDS PRESENTED BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL TO Dr BUSHLAND AND Dr KNIPLING. SCIENTISTS WHO DEVELOPED THE STERILE INSECT TECHNIQUE (SIT)
PRESENTATION PAR LE DIRECTEUR GENERAL DES PRIX SPECIAUX DECERNES AU Dr. BUSHLAND ET AU Dr. KNIPLING. POUR LA MISE AU POINT DE LA TECHNIQUE DE L'INSECTE STERILE (TIS)
ENTREGA POR EL DIRECTOR GENERAL DE PREMIOS ESPECIALES A LOS Dres. BUSHLAND Y KNIPLING. CIENTIFICOS QUE HAN PUESTO A PUNTO LA TECNICA DE LOS INSECTOS ESTERILES (TIE)

LE PRESIDENT: Je vais immédiatement donner la parole au Directeur général, M. Edouard Saouma, pour la présentation des prix spéciaux décernés au Dr Bushland et au Dr Knipling, pour la mise au point de la technique de l'insecte stérile.

DIRECTOR-GENERAL: It is with a sentiment of pride and a sense of accomplishment that today we pay tribute to one of FAO's most recent successes - the New World Screwworm Eradication Programme in the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and neighbouring countries.

The emergency phase of the campaign ended on 16 October 1991 when the last flies from Tuxtla were dispersed, and will now be followed by an intensive surveillance campaign that will continue until next summer.

The success of this campaign has brought relief not only to Libya but also to neighbouring countries and has removed the threat of a catastrophic spread of this pest to the African continent, where it could have become endemic.

Indeed, it is widely acknowledged that had its spread not been halted, the effect on the great wildlife resources of Africa, and the continent's reservoir of livestock, on which so many people depend, would have been devastating.

The campaign has also demonstrated the capacity of the world community to respond to a major emergency with commendable speed and generosity.

A consortium of 14 countries and 6 agencies have financed the international costs of the programme.

Against an initial estimate of US$91 million, the actual programme cost has been approximately US$40 million, due to the early success of the campaign.

The Libyan contribution to the programme has been approximately US$12 million in cash and US$15 million in kind.

FAO detected the infestation and took early measures and then provided the expertise and management structure necessary for the organization and execution of the eradication programme.

UNDP, IFAD and IAEA provided finance and valuable research support throughout the programme.

Mr Chairman, a special word of thanks is extended for the major role played by the Government of Libya and, in particular, its veterinary service which mobilized a large and effective team of specialists to conduct the essential ground operations.

Similarly, our thanks go to Libya's neighbours for the practical cooperation given and the solidarity shown from the earliest days of the programme.

However, fundamental to this success was the unstinting support of the Mexican-US screwworm commission which gave us free access to their technology and experience and supplied us with more than 1.3 billion sterile flies over a period of ten months.

Mr Chairman, unlike other pest control methods, the sterile insect technique is environmentally friendly, since no chemicals are used, no residues are left behind and there are no effects on non-targeted species.

The technique involves a large number of flies, bred in captivity, sterilized by means of irradiation and dispersed over the infested area.

The results are simple and direct: the native female fly, mates with a sterile male and lays eggs that will not hatch, thus breaking the life cycle and leading to the eventual extermination of the species.

But what is little known, is that this technique was developed by two outstanding and farsighted American entomologists who became, during the mid-fifties, the leading proponents in the USA for the development of ecologically selective methods of pest control.

We are honoured to have them here with us today.

Dr Edward Fred Knipling and Dr Raymond Cecil Bushland are the inventors of the Sterile Insect Technique which has been used not only in the eradication of screwworm infestations, but also to eradicate the Mediterranean fruitfly from Mexico and parts of Guatemala and California, the melon fly from Okinawa, the Mexican fruitfly from areas of the USA that adjoin Mexico as well as to clear tsetse flies from areas of Tanzania, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

In addition, this technique is currently being used to combat the pink bollworm in California, the codling moth in Canada and the onion fly in the Netherlands.

We thus have a striking example - indeed a model - of how a scientific idea can be nurtured, developed, and finally brought to bear on problems of real concern.

And it is a great privilege for this Organization to pay tribute to the insight, persistence and dedication of two eminent scientists who have given the world this technique.

Mr Chairman, I would now like to invite Dr Knipling and Dr Bushland to come to the podium to receive our modest award comprising a silver Leonardo da Vinci medal which FAO struck in 1986 to underline the importance of science in the historical development of agriculture and in improving agriculture

for the future, as well as a scroll in recognition of their outstanding work since 1935 in reducing so many serious threats to agriculture.

CHAIRMAN: Now I would like to give the floor to the delegate of the United States of America.

Duane ACKER (United States of America): On behalf of the United States of America I express my sincere appreciation and I commend FAO for the recognition given to these outstanding scientists. I thank and commend the scientists for their outstanding leadership. The United States of America is exceedingly proud of these men and the contribution they have made to the scientific base for this successful eradication effort led by FAO. The United States is exceedingly proud of FAO for the leadership of this effort in amassing resources to carry it out. It is appropriate that this recognition be given at this FAO Council meeting. Science does not know country boundaries; insects do not know country boundaries, and FAO assists in part to bridge country boundaries. These scientists, the workers involved in this effort from the several countries and FAO deserve our thanks and our congratulations. Thank you.

CHAIRMAN: I would like to give the floor to Dr Bushland.

Dr R.C. BUSHLAND: Ladies and gentlemen of the FAO, never before in my career have I felt so honoured as I do today. In the presence of your distinguished company I begin by expressing my gratitude to FAO, as directed by Director Saouma, Dr Cunningham and their associates in the United States and Italy who have made this such a happy event always to be treasured in my memory.

My pleasure began with reading Dr Cunningham's generous remarks in his newsletters depicting progress in the eradication programme. The credit he gave to us old research workers at the USDA and the praise he accorded the present staff of the USA Screwworm Commission are part of the permanent working record of FAO's remarkably efficient successful campaign. Basic research and small-scale field trials were an important beginning which this Organization has highlighted by selecting Dr Knipling and me for recognition. We made a beginning, that success was only through the dedicated service of our many colleagues in the USDA and the United States agricultural agencies. I am particularly mindful of voluntary organizations such as the Southwest Animal Health Research Foundation. The farmers and ranchers of the southwestern United States donated their own private funds to make an equal matched amount of money to the United States Government to take the necessary political measures to begin screwworm eradication in Texas and the American southwest. Mexican leaders in their livestock industry cooperated to expand the organization and to extend eradication to Central America. Because of their effort a sterile screwworm factory now exists to supply the flies that FAO so efficiently used in your remarkable and effective programme for animal and human welfare. My congratulations to you and to all. You have my profound gratitude.

Dr E.F. KNIPLING: Mr Chairman, Director-General, Members of the Council and delegates and guests, it is a pleasure for me to be here to receive the prestigious award given by FAO. It has been almost forty years since the screwworm population on the small island of Curaçao was eliminated by the use of a new method of control that my colleague Dr Bushland and I had proposed and discussed more than fifteen years earlier.

Whilst we are being honoured by the FAO for the roles we played in the development of the new approach to insect control, I am mindful of the important contributions of the many other individuals from different countries who made possible the several screwworm eradication programmes that followed and ensured their success. These individuals included pioneering research scientists, innovative pest managers and engineers who perfected the technology and put it into practice, and livestock producers who were responsible for obtaining the resources and for prompting the initiatives that had to be taken to get the programmes under way. These individuals, and their many able and dedicated assistants, should share in the recognition and awards achieved today. Well-informed biologists realize that the complete elimination of well-established pest populations is a demanding and difficult undertaking. No matter how sound the basic technology might be, unless the technology is applied in the proper manner and with precision, such programmes will not be successful.

The eradication of the screwworm from Libya in such a short period of time is clear evidence that the programme was well-planned and extremely well-executed by those responsible for various aspects of the programme. In this connection, I would like to take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to two colleagues and two personal friends who made major contributions to these programmes. I refer to Dr Arthur W. Lindquist, who unfortunately is no longer with us but who played a prominent role in developing the basic technology involved in the sterile insect technique. I also pay reference to his son, Dr Donald A. Lindquist, who played such a prominent role in the success of the programme in Libya. Art Lindquist would have felt doubly honoured and filled with great pride if he could have been here for this occasion.

All people who have an interest in agriculture, and the additional millions who want our wildlife resources protected and preserved, should be grateful to the leadership of the FAO and the supporting organizations for their decision to undertake the important programme conducted in Libya. Only those familiar with the screwworm can fully appreciate the extent of the damage and suffering by livestock, wild animals and possibly humans this obnoxious pest would have caused if it had spread and become firmly established on the continent of Africa.

I wish to close my remarks by commending FAO on its accomplishments but also I wish to remind the administrators of organizations, having responsibility in the area of pest management, that there are other important pest problems in various parts of the world which need to be resolved. It is my conviction that we have the knowledge and the basic technology for dealing with many other important insect pest problems more effectively in the future than we have done in the past. Moreover, this can be done in an ecologically acceptable manner and with highly favourable benefit-cost ratios that would be comparable to those attained in the various screwworm programmes. However, to achieve these goals we must be

bold in our thinking and planning. It is imperative that provisions be made for the technology that we have to be applied in the proper manner.

Again, may I express my appreciation for the great honour accorded me. I wish to thank you for the courtesy FAO has extended to me and to the members of my family who are privileged to be here.

Applause
Applaudissements
Aplausos

Milad Abdessalam SCHMEYLA (Libya) (Original language Arabic): I would like to take this opportunity to express the appreciation and the thanks of Libya to the Food and Agriculture Organization and its Director-General for the technical and material support they have given us in order to combat this pest which was a threat not only to Libya, but to all the North African countries and Africa in general, and also to the Mediterranean countries.

I would also like to express our gratitude for the financial support given by the donor countries and organizations, and I would like to thank the team which supervised this campaign. Had it not been for its perseverance, we would not have been able to combat the screwworm. When the screwworm was discovered for the first time in Libya, it was not well-known by us at that time. In spite of the efforts Libya made during that period, with our limited resources and our laboratories and technicians, to a large extent we were not able to combat this dangerous screwworm. We were not able to know the reasons for its spread. Thanks to science and the scientists who have researched this, and especially Dr Bushland and Dr Knipling, and all the other scientists who have contributed and devoted their lives to science, and thanks of course for what has been done by the FAO and the donor countries and organizations, we have been able to combat this pest and nip it in the bud.

I would like once again to say thank you in appreciation of the international effort made in this respect. This, of course, is proof of the best of international cooperation for the benefit of mankind in general.

John McGOWAN (Canada): Canada would like to join others in congratulating Dr Bushland and Dr Knipling for their outstanding contribution to agriculture and the world. The FAO has also played a vital role by supporting the application of their sterile insect procedures to avert the potential scourge of the New World screwworm in North Africa. By alerting the international community to the danger posed by that insect and by utilizing the most up-to-date techniques developed by these distinguished scientists, the FAO has added to an already impressive track record in this type of work. Canada believes that only the FAO can have organized an operation on this scale.

The sterile insect technique has been used effectively in Western Canada and so it is with particular gratitude that Canada thanks Dr Bushland and Dr Knipling for their exemplary work in the service of mankind.

On a personal note, I would also like to wish them both well in the pursuit of their favourite hobbies, hunting and fishing, and wish them both well in the future.

UE PRESIDENT: Au nom de tout le Conseil, je voudrais remercier à la fois les deux grands hommes de science qui nous ont fait l'honneur d'être présents ici, mais je voudrais également remercier la FAO pour le travail qui a été fait. J'ai eu l'occasion, au cours de ces derniers mois, de voir que certaines autres organisations ont tenté de s'attribuer le bénéfice de ce qui fut réalisé. Ce qui a été réalisé, l'a été grâce à la compétence du personnel de la FAO, du service SECNA et de l'intérêt que, dès le début, le Directeur général, M. Edouard Saouma, a porté à l'opération. Il était important de souligner le rôle de la FAO dans l'action qui a été menée et, au nom du Conseil, je remercie le Directeur général pour tout ce qui a été fait.

Thank you, Dr Bushland and Dr Knipling. I hope you have a very good stay in Rome. Goodbye and thank you for your kind cooperation.