THE ALLAHABAD-BASED Centre for Social Forestry and Eco-Rehabilitation (CSFER) will soon prepare a bio-pesticide made from forestry variety of plants, to control pests in Amla plants in Allahabad and Pratapgarh region.
The Centre will then guide local farmers to make use of the bio-pesticides and protect their Amla plantations.
As chemical pesticides sprayed on plants affect the quality of fruit, the Centre plans to find out such pesticide which is harmless and also helps improve the quality of Amla.
Conservator of Forests and Head of Centre AK Pandey said the CSFER has already prepared a project in this regard and have submitted it to the Director, Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun. The Director after evaluating it will forward the project to Ministry of Environment and Forest, for the approval.
Under the initiative, the Centre will first launch a survey to identify the plants such as Adhapoda Vasika (Adusa) which are found in abundance in the region for the preparation of bio-pesticide.
Then the experts will tests the active ingredient of these plants which can be used as bio-pesticides, to control insects or the pests found in Amla.
{{/usCountry}}Then the experts will tests the active ingredient of these plants which can be used as bio-pesticides, to control insects or the pests found in Amla.
{{/usCountry}}"As chemical pesticides have harmful effect on the plants, we plan to find out the bio-pesticides which will help improve yield and quality of Amla", he said.
The Conservator of Forests and Head of the Centre is principal investigator of the project while Research Officer of the Centre Dr Anubha Srivastava has been nominated as co-principal investigator.
"We have sought a budget of about Rs 10 lakh and once the Ministry gives a green signal, the work on this five-year project will start from April, 2007", said Pandey.