Debbane and Co Takes Part in the Second Conference on Biological Control at the Faculty of Agriculture – Damascus University

On November 29 and 30, 2021, Debbane and Co supported the Second National Conference on Biological Control, which was held at the Faculty of Agriculture – Damascus University. The participation was part of its commitment to participate in agricultural events organized by research and official bodies.

The conference was held under the patronage of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Prof. Dr. Bassam Ibrahim Markaz, and in cooperation between the Biological Control Research and Studies Center at the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform. Prof. Mohammad Yasar Abdeen, President of Damascus University, was also present.

The company participated in this conference through two major lectures presented by Dr. Wael Al-Matni:

1. Pheromones and the prospects for their new use. Because of the illness of Dr. Wael, the lecture was delivered by M. Zuhair Al-Sit on his behalf.
2. The results of laboratory and field research on Novo Treat, delivered by Eng. Reem Al-Khalif, Master’s student,

The Conference was accompanied by an exhibition on organic and biological materials, in which fisheries, pheromones, samples of biological and organic materials, as well as various brochures were presented. The wing of the exhibition was supervised by Eng. Mahmoud Abdallah, Technical Engineer in Hama.
Colleagues Zuhair Al-Sit. (A lecturer on behalf of Dr. Wael / due to illness), Eng. Kamil Shannan and Eng. Mahmoud Abdallah (Supervisor of the exhibition).

The conference was inaugurated by the Minister of Higher Education and his assistants, and was attended by the Dean of the College of Agriculture, the Head of the Prevention Department, the Center for Vital Enemies, the Director of Agricultural Scientific Research and her assistants and the Director of Prevention. A large number of plant protection officials in the official authorities were also among the participants.

Various research papers on biological and organic control were presented at the conference, including three other papers in which the materials of Debbane and Co were used under the supervision and follow-up of Dr. Wael Al-Matni:

• Study of the numerical density of the olive fruit fly Dacus oleae and the use of attractive traps in its environmental management
• Organic management of the fruit fly Ceratitis capitate in the orange groves of the Eastern Zahid station in Tartous
• Evaluation of the effectiveness of some organic materials and plant extracts in combating root-knot nematodes on pepper plants