June 1999, Volume 20 No. 2
- Editorial
- General News
- Training News
- Internet Round-Up
- Announcements
- Conference Reports
- Biorational
- New Books
Integrated pest management (IPM) involves the use of many techniques, including biological control, to provide effective control of crop pests with minimum harmful side-effects. Those techniques which are compatible with the use of biological control or have little impact on natural enemies have been described as `biorational'.
The success of a bio-intensive IPM module developed for cotton is highlighted in the Annual Report (1997-98) of the Indian National Centre for Integrated Pest Management (NCIPM)*. The Centre has a mandate to develop and promote IPM technologies for major crops to sustain higher crop yields with minimum ecological implications.
Field trials to assess the IPM modules for cotton were conducted at Nanded Cotton Research Station (Marathwada Agricultural University) and in farmers' fields. Bio-intensive, biocontrol + intercrop and biocontrol + insecticide treatments were compared with a pesticide-based treatment. The bio-intensive treatment (which included spraying with the biopesticide Aphidin (against sucking pests), Bacillus thuringiensis K II, 5% neem seed kernel extract and sulphur 80 WP, and releasing Trichogramma chilonis) gave best seed cotton yields in farmers fields (1304 kg/ha) and the highest net income (Rs23810/ha); this was nearly three times the income derived with the pesticide treatment. The module has been a success with farmers, who are keen to adopt it, and there are plans to make it more widely available for cotton farmers elsewhere in India.
The Centre has also developed IPM strategies for basmati rice, mustard, linseed and ber (Ziziphus mauritiana) and these have been fine tuned on the basis of the results of validation field trials, whilst IPM programmes for chickpea and pigeonpea are under development. On the information front, a cotton pest management information system is now ready for release, and databases for rice and some pulse crops are under construction. In an area seen as important for the Centre, forecasting methods are being designed and tested for Helicoverpa and for Myzus persicae in potato, and forecasting risks to crops from a number of diseases is being studied. The Centre is also involved in a surveillance and management programme for nematodes in rice and wheat in northern India. Distribution maps of 13 pests and diseases of major crops in India are now available.
In the research support and transfer of technology section, there is a strong emphasis on the biological control component of IPM. Research is being conducted on mass rearing techniques, and the centre is mass producing host insects (Corcyra cephalonica and Helicoverpa armigera), parasitoids (Trichogramma chilonis, Trichogramma japonicum and Chelonus blackburni), predators (Chrysoperla carnea) and pathogens (H. armigera nuclear polyhedrosis virus) for field release and for supply to other organizations. Recent activities in the promotion of biological control in IPM have included technical support to the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Regional Station Sirsa on the establishment of biological control facilities. Technology transfer has included facilitating farmer training in IPM techniques in a number of crops in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and providing training in cotton IPM for resource personnel from the pesticide industry.
*NCIPM (1998) Annual Report 1997-98. New Delhi, India; National Centre for Integrated Pest Management, 80 pp.
Contact: NCIPM,
Lal Bahadur Shastri Building,
Pusa Campus,
New Delhi-110 012,
India
Email:
Fax: +91 11 5765472