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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Multiple, inter cropping can trap insects before they become pests, says expert -Snehlata Shrivastav

Multiple, inter cropping can trap insects before they become pests, says expert -Snehlata Shrivastav

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published Published on Nov 18, 2017   modified Modified on Nov 18, 2017
-The Times of India

NAGPUR: Multiple cropping (growing many crops simultaneously), and intercropping (growing different crops between rows of a single crop) can completely do away with the problem of pest attacks, and help minimize or eliminate use of pesticides. Ignoring this well known fact, agriculture department as well as farmers have resorted to extreme and unscientific use of pesticides, raising costs for farmers, and even leading to farm labour deaths recently due to pesticide inhalation.

Experts claim that monocropping (single crop) like cotton, soyabean, orange etc over huge stretches of land has disturbed the ecological balance, which has resulted in pest attacks on crops.

Manohar Parchure, a long-time propagator of organic cropping, told TOI that the root cause of increasing pest attacks is monocropping. "Pests are attracted to any crop mainly due to its odour. For example, bollworm attacks on cotton can be prevented provided you have 'trap crops' like ambadi, cowpea in between the crop. Trap crops also confuse insects and they stay away from the main crop. Also, the insects attracted to cowpea are natural predators of bollworm, and eat the pests," said Parchure.

Parchure, who was a member of the Centre's expert committee on organic farming, says monocropping is suitable for developed countries, where people own lands in hundreds of acres. In the absence of labour, they use helicopters to spray their crops. But the situation in India is just the opposite as land holdings are very small.

"Andhra Pradesh has switched to 'no pesticidal management' or NPM strategy, after excessive use of pesticides and huge number of suicides, and now there is negligible use of pesticides there. This concept was brought there by Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), and the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP). In five years, lakhs of farmers in over 35,000 villages have changed their agriculture methods. They grow as many as 25 crops on the periphery of their fields, which act as pest repellents," said Parchure.

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The Times of India, 16 November, 2017, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/multiple-inter-cropping-can-trap-insects-before-they-become-pests-says-expert/articleshow/61665044.cms


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