Shopian : India Coordinated Research Project on Biological Control of Crop Pests (AICRP-BC), Division of Entomology, Faculty of Horticulture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K), Shalimar, Wednesday organized a material distribution-cum-scientist–farmer interaction programme at KVK Balapora Shopian۔
The programme was sponsored by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research – National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (ICAR-NBAIR), Bengaluru.
Prof. Akhtar Ali Khan, Head, Division of Entomology, Faculty of Horticulture, SKUAST-K, stressed upon the eco-friendly pest management through biological control agents for sustainable agriculture in the region.
Prof. ZaffarAfroz Badri, Head, KVK Shopian, elaborated on the effective utilization of the distributed materials and encouraged farmers to adopt scientific pest management approaches for enhanced productivity and reduced pesticide residues.
During the programme, Dr. Sajad Mohi-ud-Din, Principal Investigator) and Dr.MudasirGani, Co-Principal Investigator delivered comprehensive presentations on integrated insect pest management in apple, and other important crops. They sensitized farmers about the role of biocontrol agents, pheromone-based monitoring, and botanicals in sustainable crop protection.
As part of the ICAR-NBAIR-sponsored Tribal Sub-Plan initiative, essential inputs including Knapsack sprayer, pheromone traps, and neem oil were distributed among 35 tribal farmers of the area to support sustainable agricultural practices.
