Paradigm shift

When India's breathtaking Green Revolution in the 1960s had delivered the land beyond the reach of famine, sober minds began to consider the road ahead. Nikhil Chatterjee elaborates

The agricultural revolution brought in high yields and newer fertiliser inputs. The emerging issue now at hand was the sustainability of the successes. Pest control, as practised today in most developing countries, including India, relies mainly on the use of imported pesticides. However, pests attack crops at different stages. For example some crops are attacked during the flowering stage whereas others are attacked during the vegetative stage. If the crop is attacked in the initial stages such as planting, then it becomes necessary to protect them at this stage itself, else they destroy the entire crop even before it matures. As they grow large, their appetite increases and they can cause more damage. They are more susceptible to control methods when they are in the initial stages of development. Thus, it is important to have an understanding of both the crop and the pest, so that the right control measures are taken at the right time. The most common way of dealing with pests, be it insects, fungus, bacteria or weed is through spraying a concoction of chemical pesticides, which are freely available in the market. Some pests are even hand picked. Nowadays, there is a pronounced shift towards more environmentally friendly methods such as Biological Control. This involves the use of various control agents such as live insects and bio-pesticides (including fungi, virus and botanical/plant extracts). It is a controlled and conscious method, wherein various components of the Biological Control package are applied to control pest infestation at an early stage, attacking and disrupting the life-cycle of the pest. The aim is to prevent the pest from reaching a population whereby it can cause economic damage to the crop. Biological Control aims to discourage the use of chemical pesticides and by doing this, natural enemies also play their part in keeping the pest population down. Thus, the long-term objective is to help establish a natural balance, which also translates into a good crop for the farmer and ensures that the farm produce is free from pesticide-residue. To elaborate, for example, a farmer would start chemical spray, regardless of whether the pest was present or not as he did not want to take any chances. This practice used to go on until the crop was ready for harvest. Using a Biological Control package, the farmer attacks the pest at every stage of its life-cycle through different components. For many crops, beneficial insects have proved to be the saviour – for example in grapes, ladybird beetles are used to control mealy bug infestations. The resulting produce is completely free from pesticide residue as well. In other crops, pheromone traps are used to attract pests in large numbers and trap them so that they are unable to mate and infest the crop, like sugarcane and coconut. Biological ...

 

contd...

TO READ FURTHER... SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR COPY TODAY!!!