THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (SHRI HUKUMDEO NARAYAN YADAV)
(a) Yes, Sir. The Project Directorate of Biological Control (PDBC) was established on 19.10.1993 at Bangalore.
(b) The allocation of funds of PDBC made during IX Plan is Rs. 582.88 lakhs.
(c) Yes, Sir.
(d) Specific programmes have been identified for the next five years with focus on development of Biocontrol strategies for improvement in production in crops like cotton, pulses, oilseeds, rice, fruits, vegetables etc. The programme would cover quantifying the bio-diversity of natural enemies, mass production, formulations, genetic improvement, enhancement of entomophage activity through semio-chemicals and training of scientists.
(e) Currently no subsidy programme is in operation for NGO`s involved in production of bio-control agents and bio-pesticides. However, PDBC will carry out several large scale field demonstration in farmers` field to promote the use of biocontrol agents where the biological agents are provided free of cost.
(f) & (g): Yes, Sir. The use of cow urine has shown some promise against some insect pests. However, there is no report where cow urine has been used with Neem, Karanj, Custard apple etc. Pesticidal property of Neem, Karanj and Custard Apple has been explored. Of these, Neem has shown promise against a number of insects, nematodes and fungi. The use of Neem is being promoted as alternative to synthetic pesticides.
(h) & (i): Organic farming in which farm yard manure, organic waste, sewage sludge, press mud and fungal or bacterial bio-control agents are used has the potential to reduce the incidence of nematode pests. However, these techniques often do not give drastic reduction in case of very high nematode population densities.
