The Punjab Agricultural University’s Farm Advisory Service Centre (FASC), Hoshiarpur (Gangian), successfully concluded a six-day training program on “Integrated Pest Management in Field Crops, Fruits and Vegetables” on Monday. Organized under the Directorate of Extension Education, PAU, Ludhiana in collaboration with PAMETI, PAU campus, Ludhiana, the initiative aimed to equip rural youth with essential knowledge and skills in integrated pest management. The training programme emphasized the responsible use of pesticides in agriculture and stressed the importance of careful decision-making in field preparation based on ecological considerations to maximize returns.

Dr Charanjeet Kaur, Senior Extension Scientist (SM), FASC Gangian, stressed on “Do not use unrecommended pesticides and adopt right spray technology for effective control of insects/pests and weeds.” She advised the trainees to adopt IPM practices to maximize their returns from various crops.

Dr Rakesh Kumar Sharma, District Extension Scientist (Entomology), discussed the harmful effects of various types of insect-pests, infesting the field crops, especially, paddy, basmati, maize and sugarcane. He also explained the cultural, mechanical, biological and chemical control/management of insect-pests of field crops, fruits and vegetables. He further emphasized the significance of early detection and monitoring of pests and scientifically recommended pest management methods for different crops. Besides, he demonstrated the practical application of yellow sticky traps, delta traps, and other IPM management practices for handling pests and diseases in field crops.

Dr Indira Devi, District Extension Scientist (Fruits), shed light on importance of IPM in fruit plants and vegetables. She further stressed that most of fruits and vegetables are consumed raw and pesticide residue in these crops can lead to health hazards.

Mr Baljinder Singh, Agriculture Extension Officer (Johal), shared valuable information on upcoming programmes of their department. The training also included an educational visit to the Unati Cooperative Marketing-cum-Processing Society Ltd in Talwara. Mr Jyoti Saroop CEO, while interacting with trainees, told that Unati is a group of young, dynamic, innovative and enterprising people working with a shared vision of integration of rural community for sustainable agriculture development and natural bio resources management in Kandi area of Punjab.

Overall, the participants expressed good interest and gave positive feedback regarding training.

S. Gurdeep Singh (Sarpanch), S. Harbhajan Singh Dhatt (Ex Sarpanch) and S. Davinder Singh appreciated the PAU-FASC Gangian team for conducting training for farmers’ welfare in their village and urged the farmers to come forward for taking maximum benefits from the PAU-FASC centre.