Plant Protection

Plant Protection measures to save cultivated and uncultivated plants, flowers, fruits, and food grains from the damage of insects, vertebrate pests, diseases, etc. These measures are taken both in pre- and post harvest situations. Plant protection in Bangladesh is dominated by an increasing dependence on chemical pesticides, which has led to problems for pest control, the environment, domestic animals, farmers and more importantly consumers. To advise government, and the farmers in general, regarding measures for effective plant protection activities, the Plant Protection Directorate was created in East Pakistan under the Department of Agriculture in 1956. It was merged with the Directorate of Agricultural Extension and Management in 1982. The plant protection wing of this setup has the following sections:

Surveillance and Forecasting Section, responsible for collecting, analyzing and interpreting relevant field-oriented pest problem data to make forecasting and early warning of the probable pest incidence of a particular region and thus to make farmers aware of the situation beforehand. This section maintains liaison with relevant research institutions of the country.

Operation (Ground and Aerial) Section, responsible for carrying out ground as well as aerial pest control operations. It maintains a limited buffer stock of pesticides and sprayers which are distributed for demonstration among poor and marginal farmers. Five air crafts are used for aerial spraying when the pest menace is in the epidemic form. These are also used for aerial surveys to asses the incidence of pest attacks in non-approachable and marshy lands.

Pesticide Administration and Quality Control Section, responsible for pesticide administration, registration, labelling, standardization, licensing, quality control and screening, and maintaining liaison with national and international organisations.

Plant Quarantine Section, responsible for administering plant quarantine rules and regulations. It also issues import and export permits and phytosanitary certificates for importing and exporting plants and plant products.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Section, responsible for planning and organising Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programmes on rice and vegetable crops; organising IPM training for trainers (TOT) of the DAE, and of the NGOs, and farmers.

Vertebrate Pest Control Section, responsible for monitoring incidences of vertebrate pests and suggesting appropriate control measures; also organizes programmes on vertebrate pest management.

Plant Protection Research and Development To generate new technologies on plant protection, research is conducted by the following agricultural research institutes: Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI); Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI); Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI); Bangladesh Sugarcane Research and Training Institute (BSTRI); Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI); Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI); and Bangladesh Institute Of Nuclear agriculture (BINA). The Research programmes of these agricultural research institutes are coordinated by bangladesh agricultural research council (BARC). A number of international organisations, including UNDP, DANIDA, FAO, NORAD, and Asian Development Bank (ADB) support plant protection activities in Bangladesh through various agricultural and development projects. [Md Abdul Latif]

See also integrated pest management;pest. [Latif, M Abdul Directorate of Agricultural Extension, Dhaka]