By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 11 Oct: A webinar on ‘Biotechnological approaches in forest insect pest and diseases management’ was organised by Forest Protection Division, FRI, today. DG, ICFRE, AS Rawat inaugurated the webinar, which included a talk by Dr ON Tewari, Principal Scientist, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, on conservation and utilisation of cyanobacteria. He emphasised that, in recent years, cyanobacteria have attracted immense interest in biotechnology and are considered as a very promising source of alternative energy. Further, cyanobacteria have been identified as a rich source of biologically active compounds. Interestingly, filamentous cyanobacteria have the ability to differentiate specialised cells, named heterocysts, involved in nitrogen fixation. Additionally, Dr KS Sangha, Principal Entomologist, Department of Agroforestry, Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana, delivered a talk on Biological Control of Forestry Insect pests. He discussed different aspects of biological control of insect pests and emphasised promotion of entomophagy park, ecological engineering for the promotion of natural enemies, application and importance of semiochemicals, habitat management, and chemical ecology for natural enemies. He has also emphasised the role, application and future possibilities of endosymbionts and endophytes for insect pest management.
Dr Amit Pandey, Dr Sudhir, Dr Arun Pratap Singh, Dr Ranjeet Singh, Dr Vipin Prakash, Dr Arvind, Dr KP Singh, Dr Shailesh, Dr Ranjana made presentations from FRI in this webinar, along with more than hundred participants from across the country.
