Education & Literature

Shimla (The Hawk): Efforts must be made to increase convergence between labs and fields to become more field-friendly. As plant health affects the whole agri-horticulture sector, therefore an ideal combination of local. indigenous and modern strategies are needed to ensure proper plant health. Amitabh Avasthi, Horticulture Secretary of Himachal Pradesh expressed these views while addressing the inaugural session of the two-day ‘National Symposium on Confluencing Indigenous and Modern Strategies for Plant Health Management’ at the Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni on Friday. The symposium is being organized under the aegis of the Himalayan Phytopathological Society and the Department of Plant Pathology of the university. Eminent scientists and researchers working on different areas of plant health management from ICAR-National Institutes, reputed universities and agrochemical industries are attending the event. The Horticulture Secretary said that it was important that the experience of the farmers must be accommodated into the system as they are the real masters and eventually the technologies and strategies will have to be adopted by them. He urged the scientists to keep the issue of the farmers in mind and also stressed on the need to ensure the proper plant health of planting material. Professor Rajeshwar Singh Chandel, UHF Vice-Chancellor who was the Guest of Honour said that we need to narrow the gap between indigenous and modern technologies and check how the practices which are prevalent are relevant in today’s times. Prof. Chandel said that there is a need to address how some agricultural produce from our country, which has low average agrochemical usage as compared to developed countries, often sh ...