ICAR-IIHR organizes conference on plant protection in horticulture

Bengaluru: The ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research recently organized an International Conference on Plant Protection in Horticulture in Bengaluru. This event was held by the Association for Advancement of Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems (AAPMHE) in collaboration with ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru, to celebrate AAPMHE’s 30th anniversary.

Director of the IPM Innovation Lab at Virginia Tech University, USA, Dr. R. Muniappan was the keynote speaker. He highlighted the ongoing threats to horticultural crops in tropical regions.

Several other important personalities, including Dr. N. K. Krishnakumar, former Deputy Director General of Horticultural Sciences at ICAR, Dr. S. N. Sushil, Director of ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources in Bengaluru, and Dr. R. Selvarajan, Director of ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana in Trichy, were present in the event.

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Dr. Krishnakumar went on to explain the ecosystem services and suggested using wild crop relatives for crop breeding. Dr. Sushil stressed the need for plant protection to ensure safe production of horticultural crops. He urged the scientists to keep their eyes on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and be cautious of hostile pests. Dr. Selvarajan emphasized the boost of farmers income through  exports. He stated India’s horticulture production has reached 350 million metric tonnes, highlighting that the government needs to promote clean planting materials to overcome the pest issues.

Eight technical sessions took place in the conference, and several issues were raised, such as pest management, biosystematics, and taxonomy. In one special session, the entire focus was on how pest management can align with the Government of India’s ‘Vikasit Bharath vision. In one of the meetings, stakeholders, including farmers, industry experts, and researchers, were urged to support this vision.