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Gert Daniel Cilliers Pauer (1927-2009)

Gert Pauer was born in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo on 5 August 1927. After matriculating at the Brits Agricultural School in 1945 he enrolled at the University of Pretoria where he completed the B.Sc. (Agric) and M.Sc. (Agric) degrees in 1950 and 1954, respectively. In 1966 he obtained a D.Sc. (Agric) from the University of the Free State. His post-graduate research dealt with virus diseases of potatoes and the taxonomy of bacterial plant pathogens. Gert started his career as a microbiologist with the South African Buro of Standards in 1951. From 1954 to 1956 he farmed in the Soutpansberg area before taking a position as plant pathologist and part-time lecturer at the University of Pretoria. In 1960 he was appointed as senior lecturer in the Department of Plant Protection at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein. In 1968 the Department of Plant Pathology was established and Gert was promoted to professor and head of department, a position he held until his retirement in 1987. Gert and his wife Marguerite then settled in Empangeni where he joined the University of Zululand as head of the Department of Agriculture. When Gert finally retired from academia in 1991, he bought a restaurant franchise in Empangeni, being of the opinion that one must always be willing to explore new horizons and challenges.

Gert was an active member of several scientific societies. As a founder member of the South African Society for Microbiology and Plant Pathology, from which the SASPP devolved, he played an important part in the development of our science in South Africa. He served the SASMPP as Secretary (1965) and President (1981-1982) and was elected as a Fellow in 1981. Gert worked on peanut diseases, in particular leaf spots, and collaborated closely with Texas A&M University. In 1976 he spent three months in the USA to work on these diseases as a delegate of the Department of Agriculture.

As a keen golfer Gert enjoyed sport. He also had a lively interest in politics, international affairs, philosophy and religion. Gert Pauer passed away on 7 July 2009. He is survived by his wife and three children and will be remembered as a gentleman and one of the pioneers of Plant Pathology in South Africa.

Biopesticide Workshop

The University of Pretoria will be hosting a workshop on biopesticides, "Future focus: Biopesticide development trends and commercial opportunities", on 22 & 23 November 2010. For more information on workshop topics and themes, as well as registration form, please refer to the following link .

ISPP Report 2009-2010

The International Society for Plant Pathology (ISPP), Task Force on Global Food Security have released their report for 2009-2010 activities.

Please read further or for full report see attached PDF.

In memoriam- Dr George Agrios

It is with sadness that we learned of the death of Dr George Agrios in Florida, USA, on 8 March 2010.
Read more...

Western Cape Branch Symposium

The first symposium of the Western-Cape branch of the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology (SASPP) was held on Thursday, 8 May 2008, at the Infruitec-campus of ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij in Stellenbosch. During the symposium, twenty-three speakers discussed the future of fungicides as well as alternative ways of plant disease control, pathogen identification and detection, plant improvement and the managment of post-harvest diseases to reduce the spoilage of harvested crops.

Photo 1: Speakers during the SASPP symposium day. From left to right, back: Dr. Johan Fourie (ExperiCo), Dr. Karin Jacobs (Department Microbiology, US), Dr. Lizel Mostert (Department Plant pathology, US), Mr. André Erasmus (BASF), Mr. Kobus Hartman (Capespan Exports), Dr. Paul Fourie (Citrus Research International), Prof. Bill Fry (Cornell University), Mr. Bekker Wessels (ProCrop Trust). Middle: Mr. Pieter le Roux (Villa Crop Protection). Front: Dr. Michael-John Freeborough (Department Genetics, US), Dr. Yolanda Petersen (Agricultural Research Council), Dr. Abré de Beer (Institute for Viticulture, US), Me. Anika Brackenridge (Institute for Plant Biotechnology, US), Dr. Elisa Angelini (CRA-VIT), Mr. Nolan Africander (Plant Quarantine, Department of Agriculture), Dr. Jeremy Klaasen (University of the Western Cape) and Mr. Ferdi van Zyl (SAPO Trust). Speakers not present when photo was take were Mr. Rupert Anelich (Syngenta), Mr. Petrie de Kock (Bayer CropScience), Mr. Werner Witbooi (ExperiCo), Dr. Strauss Ferreira (AgroOrganics), Dr. Renée Prins (CenGen), Prof. Altus Viljoen (Department of Plant Pathology, US) and Prof. Fred Asiegbu (University of Helsinki).

Professor Altus Viljoen gave his inaugural lecture

Altus Viljoen has been inaugurated as Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Stellenbosch, on 13 March 2008. With the catchy title “Till death do us part”, he captured everyone’s attention with a review on the role that plant pathology is playing in our everyday life. His lecture started with historic events that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, and he showed how many of these diseases are still causing severe losses to crops and result in food insecurity to inhabitants of developing nations, despite existing control measures. Prof. Viljoen then explained how biotechnology can be used as a strong tool to investigate the relationship between plants and microbes, whether beneficial or detrimental, in the process of developing new-era control measures that are sustainable and environmentally safe. The inauguration was ended with a cheese and wine get together with family, friends and scientists in the field of plant pathology.

From left to right: Prof. L. van Huyssteen (Executive Director Operations & Finance, SU), Prof. Altus Viljoen, Prof. Karen Theron (Acting Dean, Faculty of AgriSciences, SU)