Dr N Sathiah, Professor and Head welcomed the gathering during the inaugural session. Dr N Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, TNAU released the fact sheets prepared by Entomologists and delivered the Inaugural address.
Coimbatore: Tamilnadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore today (04.03.2021) conducted an one day refresher programme on “Integrated Management of invasive alien species, Fall armyworm on maize” by the Department of Agricultural Entomology and Centre for Plant Protection studies.
The Department of Agricultural Entomology is actively involved in refining the IPM capsule for the management of invasive insect pets and Fall armyworm (FAW) which caused a wide spread of damage in Tamilnadu. FAW through a GoTN sponsored project at an outlay of Rs. 4.5 crore in four co-operating centres of agricultural Colleges in Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy and Killikulam involving 58 Entomologists across the state.
In this regard, the Refresher Programme on FAW Management was taken up to share the technological updation in FAW management for the Entomologists involved in research against the dreaded pest.
The Task Force Scientists of identified districts and Zonal Incharge Scientists from Agricultural College& Research Institute, Madurai, Killikulam, Vazhavachanur and Trichy were roped in for the programme to have better insight into the technological updation in FAW management.
Dr N Sathiah, Professor and Head welcomed the gathering during the inaugural session. Dr N Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, TNAU released the fact sheets prepared by Entomologists and delivered the Inaugural address.
In the inaugural address, the Vice Chancellor appreciated the efforts of Scientists and emphasized the need for team research to curtail the FAW menace across the state in his inaugural address. Dr K S Subramanian, Director of Research gave an overview of the coordinated research on invasive pests of past and present in the University.
Dr K Prabakar, Director, Centre for Plant Protection Scientists stressed the need for refining the integrated management capsule and its large scale demonstrations across the state for containing further spread of FAW. Dr R J Rabindra, Consultant GoTN - FAW Project laid the path for future research to be carried out.Dr N Muthukrishnan, Dean i/c, Agricultural College & Research Institute, Vazhavachanur focussed on the next steps to be followed in FAW research.
The programme was further led by three presenters, Dr K Prabakar, Director (CPPS), Dr N Sathiah, Professor and Head, TNAU, Coimbatore and Dr R J Rabindra, Consultant GoTN - FAW Project followed by a discussion to the desired path.
The programme proved successful with diverse view points from the scientific community and gained tips on the topic of discussion for refining the integrated management capsule to circumvent the menace of FAW in Tamil Nadu.