Agri deptt, CABI host Training for Plant Doctors

Jammu: A six day training programs for Plant Doctors began here Monday.
Director Agriculture, Jammu H. K. Razdan, inaugurated the training being organized by Department of Agriculture Jammu in collaboration with Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI).
Speaking on the occasion, Razdan said there is need to widen the scope and content of ongoing Plant Clinics to mitigate the insect pests and disease problems of crops. He impressed upon the officers of department and CABI to educate the farmers regarding adverse effects of indiscriminate use of pesticides and their residual effect. He further asked the Plant Doctors to work on different aspects of the pest management including data collection, online validation, analysis and issuance of regular advisories for recommendations. He said the data for incidence of pest and diseases generated at the Plant Clinics will be very useful for forecasting the pest incidence and to take preventive measures at the appropriate time.
Earlier while presenting the preview of PLANTWISE programs Dr Vinod Pandit, Programs Leader, CABI, South Asia informed that about 28 new officers are being trained as Plant Doctors that involve fresh plant doctors, already operating plant doctors who were not initially trained and back up plant doctors. These clinics are equipped with Tablets and USB Microscopes to operate under ICT system which provides complete database and advisory for plant pest and diseases.
R. K. Bindroo, Agriculture Chemist, Jammu Plant Health Clinic Jammu presented the achievements of 16 Plant Clinics established in three districts namely Jammu, Kathua and Samba for the year 2017. He said this programs is being extended to two new districts namely Rajouri and Udhampur through the establishment of 8 new Plant Clinics. Brain Storming Training sessions covering training on Module I (Diagnosis) and Module II (Recommendations) interaction and feedback, Plant Doctor’s self assessment, problem diagnosis, live sample identification and presentation on future planning are the main attractions of the programs.
The programs was attended by Jammu Sunil Koul, Deputy Director of Agriculture (Trainings), Jammu, Jagmohan Bhat, District Officer, Ashwani Kotwal, Assistant Soil Chemist, Anil Bakshi, Assistant Bio-Chemist, Vikas Sharma, AEO Information, Arun Khajuria AEO and others.