The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Opt for safer pest control methods: ICRISAT chief

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Andhra Pradesh

Opt for safer pest control methods: ICRISAT chief

Staff Reporter

‘Biopesticides, parasites, predators safer alternatives to synthetic pesticides’
ICRISAT Director-General laments choice of infecticides among most farmers

SANGAREDDY: The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Director General William D. Dar called upon the scientist to think about safer alternatives to pest control.

Participating as a chief guest in the symposium on ‘Bio-safety and Environmental Impact of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and Conventional Technologies for Pest Management’ held at ICRISAT on Friday, Mr. Dar said that natural plant products, biopesticides (such as entomopathogenic bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes), parasites and predators have been proposed as safer alternatives to synthetic pesticides. However, this issue needs to be probed in the context of environmental safety and sustainable crop production.

He said that crop production was constantly threatened by difficulties in controlling insect pests, which are a major impediment . Of the several methods available to control pests conventional insecticides are still in vogue among most farmers.

B. Meena Kumari, Director, Central Institute of Fisheries Technologies, explained the advancements in Fisheries, with remote sensing being used in fishing.

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