Awareness programme on Nematodes held
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, August 08 2024: Under the aegis of Central Agricultural University's (CAU) College of Agriculture, All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Nematodes in Agriculture, Imphal Centre organised an awareness programme on nematodes at Luwangsangbam Makha Leikai bn Thursday.

Organised under the sponsorship of ICAR - AICRP on Nematodes in Agriculture, the programme was attended by Luwangsangbam GP pradhan S Angou as chief guest, Lou U Shingtha Lup, Luwangsangbam president S Koseshwar as president and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Science, Utlou associate professor (Plant Breeder) Dr Y Vivekananda and College of Agriculture AICRP-Nematodes in Agriculture principal investigator Dr Kshetrimayum Sumita as guests of honour.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sumita stressed the importance of conducting soil test for a prospective farmland and invited farmers to visit CAU for the same as soil testing will help determine and increase the yield of crops.

She stated that if the roots have bumps or are short and red in colour, it is infected by nematodes along with explaining that there are four types of nematodes which infect plants, namely Ufra nematode, white tips nematode, rice root node nematode and rice root nematode.

Among these, rice root node nematode (twisted and bumps) and rice root nematode (short and red) are found in Manipur, with the latter found mainly in Imphal West district and the former in Imphal East district.

Any paddy with nematodes will decrease yield by 40 percent, she informed.

Dr Sumita also pointed out that one of the best ways to prevent the plant disease is to plough the paddy field twice in summer followed by application of 1000 kg of neem cake per 'lou pari' 15 days prior to sowing the seeds or planting the paddy.

When sowing the seeds, 33kg of Carbofuran 3G must be used for every lou pari, followed by the same process after 30 days, she conveyed.

Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Science, Utlou associate professor (Plant Breeder) Dr Y Vivekananda spoke on the topic of quality seed production.

Later, neem and seeds were distributed to the attending farmers.

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