'Neem seed kernel extract most effective pesticide'

The Integrated Pest Management Centre (IPMC) here, after more than a decade's work and study among the farmers in the nine coastal Andhra districts from Srikakulam to Nellore, has concluded that biopesticide neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) is the best pesticide.

Speaking to Business Standard, K Mannavan, IPMC plant protection officer, said that neem had been found to be more effective than any other pesticide "� bio or chemical "� in checking almost all the dreaded pests and insects in all the crops.

"The parasites have been destroying crops and sapping farmers of their meagre resources. After neem, spraying of bio pesticides made with bacillus thuringenesis (bactericidal) in liquor and powder form, beauria bessiania (fungicide), trichoderma (kills pest egg), nuclear polyhydrosis virus (kills pest larvae) and pseudomonas (fungicide) on crops has shown remarkable results in managing pests," he said.

"Farmers incur more than 50 per cent expenditure on pesticides and seeds. Everyone knows that pesticides are much abused in Andhra Pradesh. Pests and pathogens have developed resistance to pesticides. Helicoverta armigera rampantly preys on all crops in coastal Andhra these days. Some years ago, 50 ml pesticide used to be enough to kill that pest. Now it is shocking to find that even two litres of any pesticide or a combination of pesticides fails to kill it. White fly is causing uncontrollable damage to crops, as the insect is also pest resistant. Officials and experts have missed this aspect. The blame for most of the suicides of farmers in coastal Andhra can be placed totally on these two parasites," he said.

Against this sad backdrop, Mannavan said, farmers, who had used neem seed kernal extract (NSKE) and other bio pesticides found amazing results, and protected their crops from pests. Pests in general cause maximum damage during their prolonged larval stage.

The farmers, who had taken the IPMC help and used bio pesticides, succeeded in cutting down use of chemical pesticides by 50 per cent and over all expenditure by 25 per cent, he added.

He said, "The IPMC conducts 15-week field schools for farmers in 10 villages during the kharif season (first crop) as well as the rabi season (second crop) and trains them to decide on their own the right pesticide for their crops. At present, schools for rabi season are in progress, in four villages of Krishna, 2 villages each in Guntur and Prakasam districts, and 2 villages of West Godavari. Thirty farmers have been selected from every village, making the number of students 300."

He said, "The farmers are being trained in optimum pesticide use on paddy, groundnut and vegetables during rabi. They are found using massive quantity of pesticides on vegetable crops. The curriculum includes review of past week's farm work, the day's plan of action, agri system analysis, group dynamics and lectures by experts and scientists. They also are taught to monitor and study on their own health of crops at various stages, built in compensation abilities, dynamics of pest and defender population, soil condition and edaphic factors and climatic factors (pH, rainfall). They are trained to kill only pests and leave and preserve useful insects and soil bacterial. "

He said that the farmers, at the end of training, would be supplied bio pesticides like trichogramma to kill pests at the egg stage, and NPV (nuclear polyhydrosis) virus to kill pathogens at larval stage (brachon). The pest management, in fact, comprises killing eggs and larvae of pests.

They would also be supplied phermone traps (trapping male insects and killing them), bamboo traps and kitbags, containing scientific apparatus, polythene bags, lenses and filling bottles, which would help them in selecting right antidotes.