Biological control of plant pests, diseases and weeds through biotechnology

Under a time bound goal oriented programme for the large scale adaptation of the
biopesticide technology under IPM and their adaptation by the farmers, substantial area
of land was covered in various agroclimatic zones of the country for managing pests and
diseases of important regional crops. The cost of crop protection was optimised and
income/profit was maximised. An IPM module with various strategies has been
developed for green (organic) cotton. Under irrigated condition, the mean net profit in
IPM field was Rs.8010//ha. The pesticide residue analysis of cotton kapas showed that
none of the linked samples collected from the 22 farmers’ holdings had the residue above
the prescribed tolerance limit. Successful demonstration trials in this programme have
culminated as a recommendation by the State Dept. of Agriculture in various states. An
Indian Patent application entitled “A novel composition of a Fermentation Medium
useful for Economic Mass Production”, involving inexpensive industrial bio-products for
the mass production of spores of Trichoderma viride has been filed. Patents for mass
production technologies of Myrothecium verrucaria, Trichogramma, Beaveria bassiana
and Verticillium lecami have been taken at different centres. The biocontrol products
developed at various centres were distributed among the farmers free of cost and were
used in cotton, rice, groundnut, sunflower, pulses, sugarcane, tobacco, Chilli, and
vegetables. RRL, Jammu has transferred the technology as an integrated package for
biofertilizers and biopesticides to two industries viz., M/s Pratishta Industries Ltd.,
Secundrabad, A.P. and M/s Javeri Agro-industries & Investment Co. Ltd., Javeri Nursery
Premises, Amrawati, M.S. In addition, 5 new potential biopesticide technologies viz.
Aspergillus niger (fungal antagonist), Debaromyces hensenii (yeast antagonist),
Steinernema corpocapsea (nematode), internode borers lure (Sex pheromones); and H.
purea NPV (Baculovirus) against teak defoliators are being revalidated.
A major R&D programme on the role of biological resources for Integrated
Nutrient and Pest Management (INPM) for increasing agricultural productivity in
existing cropping system by way of managing their pest profile / incidence made a steady
progress.