Greetings from President

Kazuhiro Matsuda, The 25th President of the Pesticide Science Society of Japan

　My name is Kazuhiko Matsuda, and I have been appointed President of the Pesticide Science Society of Japan (PSSJ) since 1 April 2023. In the near half-century since its foundation, the Society has developed flexibly and adapted to the times. However, the recent trend towards declining synthetic pesticides has created a challenging situation for Society. Under these circumstances, I would like to put forward the concept of 'Substantial integrated pest management with the application of chemical pesticides'. If we rely solely on biological or physical methods to effectively control pests and diseases, we cannot provide a stable supply of safe food. Only in combination with chemical pesticides, low persistent, safer and highly selective for their target pests than ever, can we provide good crops for our needs.

　So, how can the PSSJ create a forum for discussing safer pest control? The first thing to perform is to broaden the scope of the field and make Society a place where more and more scientists can frankly and enthusiastically discuss the area in question and feel happy to be a member. To achieve this, the PSSJ needs to be reformed to be attractive to specialists in science, engineering, digital/AI technology, and medicine. At the same time, to ensure that these reforms are not transitory, we must also develop programmes to nurture the next generation in parallel. We also need to work on sending the next generation to the international arena and forming a solid network with major international organisations.

　My ability is limited, and the development of the PSSJ will not be achieved by talking about ideals on my own. I want to ask for your help to realise the above purposes.

April. 2023