BHUBANESWAR: The 5th national symposium named ‘New Dimensions in Plant Protection – A Step towards food and Nutritional Security and Environmental Safety’ was organised by the Society for Plant for Protection and Environment at the M.S. Swaminathan Hall of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology here Saturday.
Addressing the gathering, M.P. Singh, Chief Guest of the function and Vice- Chancellor, Central Agricultural University, Manipur emphasized upon the need for acceptance of new technologies for plant protection by farming communities.
Guest of Honour Chandish R Balla, Director, NBAIR, Bengaluru emphasized upon the importance of biological control in pest management. She stressed upon the use of various bio agents in the field for successful control of harmful pests. This would ensure essential crops to steer clear of fatal diseases. She also instructed that the use of insecticides and fungicides should be rational and judicious for the activity of bio agents not to be hindered. This would ensure the proper application of biological control.
Surendranath Pasupalak, Chancellor, OUAT, Bhubaneswar stressed upon the amount of loss that occurs due to various biotic stresses. He threw some light on new technologies developed to mitigate the problem for the purposes of restoration of environmental safety. The programme was coordinated by J. Padhi, R N Mahapatra and AK Kar.