FAISALABAD City News

Concern over import of insecticides
From Our Correspondent
FAISALABAD: The country is importing insecticides worth $110 million, which is the matter of concern, said University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice-Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan.
Addressing an annual function of the UAF Department of Entomology here, he said that import of insecticides went up by 47 per cent to 23,033 metric ton in July-May 2013/14 from 15,692 metric ton in the same period of last the fiscal year. He said that 50 per cent of pesticides in the country were highly hazardous and their residues were the reason for the outbreak of many diseases. He said that water containing pesticides, when used for drinking purposes, could be harmful, ranging from mild headache and skin allergy to cancer of internal organs. He said that modern practices like integrated pest management must be promoted to reduce the hazardous usage of pesticides. He was of the view that plant protection measures helped in increasing per hectare yield by protecting the crops from damages by controlling the pests. He said that the traditional methods of cultivation were keeping per acre productivity at low levels and the average yield was just a quarter of the regional countries.
Dean Faculty of Agriculture Dr Muhammad Arshad said that diseases limited the production of crops, vegetable and fruit. Effective disease management was a prerequisite for high quality production, he added. Its control, included certified disease-free seeds, timely sowing or planting in well-prepared, fertile soil and controlling weeds and insect pests, he said, adding that the Entomology Department was making sincere efforts to control the diseases.
Department Chairman Dr Jalal Arif said that tangible researches were being carried out in the Entomology Department to limit different diseases, including whitefly and dengue. He said that they were partnered with the Punjab government in the dengue awareness campaign. He said that the UAF had become the hub of research, dialogue and academic activities.