Consortium to develop an electronic compendium for crop protection in Southeast Asia

This project arose out of the original pilot study in 1992/93 which ACIAR part-funded. The Electronic Compendium for Crop Protection will be a global, encyclopaedic electronic information resource, containing text, maps, illustrations, a taxonomic framework, diagnostic systems and other features in a user-friendly format. It will provide the platform to make technical information available to users in developed and developing countries in a form that is readily applied to a wide variety of practical problems in crop protection with an emphasis on integrated pest management. Even though the target is global the initial focus is on Southeast Asia, chosen because the crop protection problems of the region encompass those of other tropical and subtropical regions. Completion of the Crop Protection Compendium for SE Asia will represent more than half the work needed to develop the finished Compendium for the world. In January 1996 ACIAR became a founder member of the Consortium that resourced the development costs of the Compendium for Crop Protection. Membership of the Development Consortium, at the basic unit contribution of US$50,000, entitled ACIAR to have the opportunity to influence the direction of the project and receive a free copy of the Compendium (updated annually to the year 2000). It would also allow ACIAR to purchase up to 15 copies of the Compendium at a special developing country price of US$500 each.