Kohima: Bio-pesticides (also known as biological pesticides) are pesticides derived from natural materials such as animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals. They are certain types of natural products used to control pests, plant diseases and weeds. They are typically created by growing and concentrating naturally occurring organisms and/or their metabolites including bacteria and other microbes, fungi, nematodes, proteins, etc.
The use of chemical pesticides causes reduction of beneficial species, any drift or vapor can cause damage to the environment or water bodies. They can also poison food for animals or people. The chemicals can also sip into ground water and potentially cause harmful side effects such as cancer. Thus, these problems can be overcome by use of bio-pesticides since they are environment friendly and decompose quickly, thereby avoiding pollution problems.
The project co-ordinator, Dr. MS Rao, IIHR, has 24 years of research experience on biological control. He received the most prestigious awards for the contribution in research on bio- agents, patented and commercialized many technologies on bio-¬pesticides.
The Nagaland Science and Technology Council in collaboration with Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR), Bangalore will distribute the indigenously developed bio-pesticides formulated by IIHR and disseminate the technology of use of these bio-pesticides to the local farmers and agriculturists in Nagaland. During the two-day farmers training programme on application of bio-pesticides to kick start at Nagaland Science Centre, Dimapur and subsequently at various locations on February 21 and 22. The bio-pesticide formulation made of indigenous bio-agents can be active against different types of plant diseases present locally.
