INVITATION
Dear friends and weed scientists !
The 20th Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society (APWSS)
Conference will be held during 7-11 November 2005 in Ho Chi Minh
City, Vietnam.
The conference theme is “Six decades of weed science since the
discovery of 2,4-D” reflecting the major impact that the discovery
of this molecule has made on weed science worldwide. After the close
of World War II in 1945, British researchers W.G.Templeman and
W.A.Sexton and American researchers P.W.Zimmerman and A.E.Hitchkok
announced the discovery of the 2,4-D molecule which led to the
recognition of the first selective organic herbicide in the world.
Following this discovery a large number of organic herbicides have
been developed and used worldwide making a shift in agricultural
production techniques from fossil-fuel based land preparation for
weed control to minimum-or zero-tillage system using herbicides for
crop production. This has been a tremendous contribution to world
agriculture by weed science as a whole and herbicides in particular.
However, some undesirable side-effects have also occurred, such as
environmental pollution by herbicides, herbicide-resistant weeds,
unintended effects on non-target plants and adverse health effects
to those exposed to certain herbicides. Looking back over the
six-decade history of weed science to evaluate achievements as well
as limitations and finding the right direction to go ahead is the
challenge for scientists and farmers in the Asian-Pacific region, as
well as in the rest of the world.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee I am pleased to invite you to
participate in the 20th APWSS Conference.
Looking
forward to meeting you in Ho Chi Minh City in the year 2005.
Yours sincerely
Dr. Duong Van Chin
President, Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society
Chair, Organizing Committee 20th APWSS Conference