Advantages And Disadvantages Of Fungicide In Agriculture

In view of the several disadvantages associated with the unscientific use of fungicide in agriculture, there is an urgent need for minimising the use of chemical fungicide in the management of insect pests. Growing public concern over potential health hazards of synthetic fungicide and also steep increase in cost of cultivation/low profit making by farmers has led to the exploration of eco-friendly pest management tactics such as Integrated Disease Management (IDM). IDM aims at suppressing the pest species by combining more than one method of pest control in a harmonious way with least emphasis on the use of insecticides. In simple terms "IDM is the right combination of cultural, biological and chemical measures which provides the most effective, environmentally sound and socially acceptable methods of managing diseases, pests and weeds". The major components of IDM

Sreenivasan (40) and 12 other progressive farmers, who were raising vegetables, turmeric, pulses and a few other crops on a total area of 150 acres in the area, came together to set up the unit for producing biological agents namely Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma viride with an initial capital of Rs. 5 lakh. Of the expenditure, Rs. 1.25 lakh was obtained as subsidy extended by the Department of Agriculture from the corpus created under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. They are now producing nearly 20 tonnes of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma viride a year. But what made the farmers venture into the production of biological agents, which, according to Agriculture Department officials, is a lesser explored terrain at the village/farm level. “At one point of time, we felt it as a responsibility to protect the earth from getting contaminated by the excessive use of chemicals to control/prevent insects, diseases and pests. For that, we thought that the bio-agents can be the best alternative and hence, the unit to produce high quality products,” Mr. Sreenivasan said (The Hindu, Dec 14,