The International Conference on Plant Protection in Horticulture: Advances and Challenges was held at ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, (IIHR) Bengaluru during 25-27 September,2024. The conference was organized by The Association for Advancement of Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems (AAPMHE) on the occasion its 30th Anniversary in collaboration with ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru. The conference was attended by 225 delegates representing 21 states in India and 7 from abroad.
Distinguished guests, included Chief Guest Dr R. Muniappan, Director IPM Innovation lab, Virginia Tech university, USA, was the Chief guest of the event while Dr. N. K. Krishnakumar, Former DDG Horticultural Sciences, ICAR, Dr. S. N. Sushil, Director, ICAR-NBAIR, Bengaluru, and Dr. R Selvarajan, Director ICAR-NRCB, Trichy were the guests of honour and was presided over by Dr. Tusar Kanti Behera, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru.
At the outset Dr S Sriram, Head, Division of crop protection welcomed the delegates and organising secretary Dr V Sridhar explained the journey of AAPHME in the past thirty years and mentioned that 250 delegates from 21 states of India and abroad (USA, UK, Mexico) working in the field of plant protection in Horticulture are participating in the three days deliberations on the recent developments in Pest management in Horticulture and the challenges.
Dr Muniyappan recalled his past forty years of associating with ICAR-IIHR in various aspects of plant protection in Horticulture and presented a keynote address on Current and emerging Threats to Horticultural Crops in Tropics. CAR-IIHR Director Dr. T. K. Behera in his presidential remarks explained about the progress of work being done at ICAR-IIHR with regard to plant protection in Horticulture including recent initiatives on application of Genome editing tools for development of climate resilient horticultural crops and hoped for better management measures in the near future.
Dr S N Sushil, explained the importance of plant protection in safe production of horticultural crops and urged the scientists to give more emphasis on Integrated Pest Management besides keeping vigil on the invasive pests. Dr R Selvarajan mentioned that in India Horticulture production has reached 350 million tonnes ensuring nutritional security and also being exported for generation of higher income to farmers. Further mentioned that horticultural pest being persistent very difficult to manage and, in this direction, recent initiative of Government of India for clean planting material would help in a greater way to prevent such dangerous pests. Dr. Krishna Kumar stressed on the ecosystem services and using wild crop relatives in breeding programmes.
On the occasion different AAPMHE awards were presented. Smt. Kolla Jayamma Memorial Woman Scientist Award for Excellence and Leadership in Crop Protection was awarded to Dr. Chandish R. Ballal, Former Director of ICAR-NBAIR, Bengaluru for her life time achievements in biological Control. . Sithanantham Award for Excellence in Biological Control Research was given to Dr. N. B. V. Chalapathi Rao while the Dr. B.V. David Best Ph D Thesis Award was bagged by Dr. K. Nishanthini of Annamalai University, and Dr. M. Mani Young Scientist Award was presented to Dr. Richa Varshney of ICAR-NBAIR, Bengaluru.
The Conference spread over eight technical sessions deliberated on important emerging issues related to plant protection including Biosystematics and Taxonomy, Emerging approaches in pest management like genome editing, AI tools, Sterile Insect Technique etc., Biological Control approaches and success stories, Biosecurity and Plant Quarantine etc. There were 20 invited lectures, 154 oral presentations and 85 poster presentations. The conference also included a special session to identify the goals in pest management keeping in view the ‘Vikasit Bharath @2047’ vision of the Government of India. In this regard, a stakeholders meet was organized with farmers, industry and researchers.
The Plenary Session was held on 26th September 2024 and was chaired by Dr. Sanjay Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (Hort. Sci.), ICAR, New Delhi and Co-chaired by Dr. P.K. Chakrabarty, Former Member, ASRB, New Delhi and presided over by Dr. Tusar Kanti Behera, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru. Dr Chakrabarthy made a presentation on the Government’s initiate in grouping different crops for simplifying label claim of pesticides. Best Research presentations were awarded to various research faculty and students. Farmers who are producing safe horticultural produce were felicitated. The programme ended with Vote of thanks by Dr. V. Sridhar, Organising Secretary, ICPPH-2024.
Salient recommendations of ICPPH2024 are given below.
- Systematic studies on any taxa should attempt to include molecular markers apart from morphological characters to ensure objectivity in their studies.
- There is a need to develop GAP protocols for major horticultural crops to ensure food safety
- AI, ML and Hyper spectral remote sensing tools should be explored for early detection and precise monitoring of pests and diseases.
- There is need for equipment for dissemination of semio-chemicals to cover larger area.
- Research on application of bio- pesticides and release of bio-agents through drones needs to be initiated.
- Procedures for the registration of biopesticides need to be streamlined and simplified for their wider usage.
- The DPPQ&S and ICAR should work together to bring out the SoPs for developing quick and efficient kits for detection of major viruses in seed and planting material being exported or imported.
- AI based models for pest and disease prediction needs to be developed by networking different ICAR Institutes and SAUs.
- Use of honey bees in hybrid seed production of flower crops needs to be optimized
