Controlling mango hopper through bio-pest management stressed

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RAJSHAHI, May 26, 2019 (BSS)-Fruit scientists and researchers have urged
the farmers to control mango hopper through the best uses of bio-pest
management method to boost the mango yield.

They mentioned that mango is one of the cash crops and very much
profitable and popular one in the region, but the hopper destructs it badly
affecting the farmers financially every year.

On the contrary, the farmers use pesticide indiscriminately and excessively
to protect the crop through managing the menace. But, non-judicious use of
pesticides is harmful to both public health and environment, they added.

They came up with the observation while addressing a farmers’ field day
titled “Controlling of Mango Hopper through Integrated Pest Management
Method-based on Bio-pest technology” at Khirshin Fakirpara village under Paba
Upazila in the district on Saturday.

Entomology Section of Horticulture Research Centre in Bangladesh
Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) organized the field day in association
with IPM IL Bangladesh Site and USAID.

More than 100 mango farmers attended that programme to receive ideas and
knowledge about how to promote safe and eco-friendly pest management
technologies in mango farming fields.

Bangladesh Site Coordinator of IMP IL Project Yousuf Mian addressed the
meeting as focal person while principal investigator of the project and
principal scientific officer of BARI Dr Shahadat Hossain, principal
scientific officer of Fruit Research Station Dr Alim Uddin and senior
scientific officer of Regional Horticulture Research Center Mosharraf Hossain
disseminated their expertise on the issue.

Dr Shahadat Hossain mentioned that substantial and sustainable promotion
of bio-pesticide is very crucial for producing safe fruits and crops side by
side with protecting soil health from further degradation.

He said using chemical pesticides on green fruits is always harmful to
soil and public health, crops and environment. So, there is no way but to
giving utmost importance to promoting bio-pesticides widely, he added.

Yousuf Mian said normally farmers apply chemical insecticides and
pesticides in farming fields, killing all the insects including the useful
ones causing environmental degradation.

But when the harmful insects are detected through the bio-pest management
technologies, they can save money by applying cheaper bio-pesticides to kill
that particular pest as per experts’ suggestion, he said.

Dr Alim Uddin said the destructive as well as the injurious insects can
easily be controlled through promoting eco- friendly method of using organic
fertilizer and indigenous insecticides instead of chemical ones.

Bio-pest management system should be promoted among the growers widely to
protect the beneficial insects from degradation for the sake of maintaining a
sound environment and that is very important for a sound public health and
ecosystem as well, he added.