P. P. Reddy, former director of Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, stressed on the need to opt for organic farming to minimise crop loss induced by nematodes.
He was speaking after inaugurating the 19th biennial group meeting on nematodes in cropping systems at Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering (JNNCE) here on Tuesday.
“Nematodes are inflicting loss worth 118 billion U.S. dollars on agricultural and horticultural crop worldwide every year. There has been a fall in the quality of agricultural produce owing to nematodes. These nematodes would pose a threat to the global food security in the future,” he said.
Farmers were encouraged to use chemical inputs in the name of green revolution to enhance food production, he said and added that this resulted in a sharp decline in the quality of the soil making the crop susceptible for pest, fungal and nematode infections.
“Researches have proven that nematode activity can be controlled and minimised by opting for organic farming methods. It is necessary to create awareness among farmers in this regard,” he said.
Addressing the gathering, R.K. Walia, project coordinator on Nematodes of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) said that nematode infection hampers the uptake of water and minerals from the soil owing to which the growth of the plant becomes stunted and there will be decline in the yield. It is necessary to control nematode infection to enhance food production, he said.
C. Vasudevappa, Vice Chancellor of University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (UAHS), Shivamogga, said that it is necessary to maintain the soil health by opting for nature-friendly farming practices to control infections caused due to nematodes.
The programme was organised by ICAR and UAHS, Shivamogga. P. Narayanaswany, director of Research of UAHS, Shivamogga, T.H. Gowda, director of Extension and Srinivas Rao Kunte, principal of JNNCE were present.
