Identic was visited by two Chinese academics earlier this year. Emeritus Professor Cheng Jiaan, from Zhejiang Agricultural University, Hangzhou, PRC, is a world expert on rice pests and particularly the brown planthopper, that has been an increasing problem in Chinese rice crops. Prof Cheng is an advisor to a major project in China aimed at reducing pesticide use in rice in the next five years and part of his visit was to discuss the role that Lucid Mobile apps might play to achieve this result.

In April, Dr Zhongxian Lu from the Zhejiang Academy of Sciences visited. Dr Lu is the Coordinator of the National pesticide reduction project and we had further discussions with him about potential collaboration. Both visitors also visited colleagues at The University of Queensland to discuss these and other aspects of pest management.

Prof Yoohan Song

Professor Yoohan Song – Emeritus Professor of Entomology in the Department of Applied Biology, Gyeongsang National University, Korea – is currently visiting Identic. Professor Song has a long association with the Identic team, having collaborated with us on several projects concerning CD/DVD on rice and Korean vegetable pest management. On this occasion Yoohan is working with us and with colleagues at the International Rice Research Institute (Philippines) to update the Rice Doctor diagnostic online key and apps for tropical rice and to discuss the development of a diagnostic key for temperate rice.