Sugar mill staff trained to identifiy predators

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 11

The Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), organised a two-day training programme on “Mass production and utilisation of bio-control agents” for technical staff of sugar mills located in Punjab.

The technical personnel from the Morinda Cooperative Sugar Mills Limited (Roopnagar), Nawanshahr Cooperative Sugar Mills Limited (SBS Nagar), Rana Sugar Mills Private Limited, Butter Seviyan (Amritsar), Gurdaspur Cooperative Sugar Mills Limited, Paniar (Gurdaspur) and Fazilka Cooperative Sugar Mills Limited (Fazilka) participated in the training workshop.

The trainees were informed regarding identification of predators, parasitoids and entomopathogens. They were also acquainted with biocontrol laboratory equipment and provided hands-on exposure on the preparation of tricho-cards. They were given demonstrations on the utilisation of bioagents for the control of lepidopteran insect-pests in sugarcane, maize, fodder maize and organic rice.

The PAU has been promoting integrated pest management for insect-pests, including biocontrol tactics towards reducing the sole reliance on chemical insecticides with environmental concerns, including safe human health, food and feed.

It is in this endeavor that the PAU has been organising outreach programmes on bio-control aspects for farmers, officials and staff of sugarcane mills and biocontrol labs. Due to the consistent efforts of the PAU, the area under biocontrol of insect-pests in the state is constantly increasing.