Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
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Effects of insecticides and herbicides on animals (1951)
14
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Anticrop detection and destruction of destructive agents (1952)
15
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Anticrop aerial spray trials (1954)
16
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Analysis of rice blast epidemic caused by
Piricularia oryzae
(1954)
17
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Cereal rust
18
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Screening of
Piricularia
isolates for pathogenicity to rice (1955)
19
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Clandestine attacks on crops and livestock (1955)
20
With new terms of reference and a widened remit emphasizing “the
potentialities of crop warfare by chemical and biological means,” the
ADAC continued to oversee UK R&D on matters relating to offensive
anticrop warfare.
21
Work on anticrop chemical agents resulted in the test-
ing in Tanganyika of the chemical agents 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T, and endothal
(3,6-endoxohexahydrophthalic acid) as insecticides, with 2,4,5-T subse-
quently used in an aerial tsetse fly eradication campaign in Kenya. The
14-year Malayan conflict saw a chemical derivative of 2,4,5-T used in the
first military application of chemical agents in a campaign to reduce jun-
gle cover. In a related food denial program, chemical agents were dis-
seminated by helicopter. This tactic was considered by the command-
ing officer in Malaya to have been a decisive weapon in the campaign
against Malayan insurgents, and according to one source, this deploy-
ment formed the basis for future US involvement in herbicidal warfare in
Vietnam.
22
In the US, activities were characterized by a focus on the identification
and bulk production of agents and on short-term projects relating to the
acquisition of a retaliatory capability. In regard to the latter, according to
one UK source, by 1952 the Americans had begun to exhibit a most ag-
gressive outlook, which was thought to be linked to a desire to bring a
speedy conclusion to hostilities in Korea.
23
This strategy created consider-
able UK reliance on subsequent US development of an offensive anticrop
BW capability.
US Army Chemical Corps anticrop warfare activities were organized
under the four constituent parts of the Crops Division: the Chemistry
Branch, the Biology Branch, the Plant Physiology Branch, and the Opera-
tional Requirements Branch. The remit of the Chemistry Branch cen-
tered on the development of a universal anticrop chemical, and efforts
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