Indian scientists have developed a sustainable pheromone dispenser with a controlled release rate which could act as an innovative solution to substantially reduce the costs of pest control and management.
To ensure that the innovation benefit farmers directly on a large scale, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research JNCASR, Bengaluru and ICAR–National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (ICAR–NBAIR) have entered into a Know-how license pact with Krishi Vikas Sahakari Samiti Ltd. (KVSSL), Haryana, recently.
JNCASR is an autonomous institution under the Department of Science and Technology.
Prof. M. Eswaramoorthy from JNCASR and Dr. Kesavan Subaharan from ICAR–NBAIR led the signing of the pact.
Prof. Eswaramoorthy said, “This exercise will enable the spread of technology across the country and at global level too. The benefit of the research moves from the lab to the field to benefit the farming community for pest management.”
“Currently, emphasis is laid on developing technologies that are clean and green. On this line, the technology developed on controlled release of semiochemicals (signalling substances such as pheromones) on transfer to firms will enable to scale up the production to cover a large area,” Dr. Subhaharan added.
Sustainable organic pheromone dispensers are not a new concept. In fact, polymer membrane or polypropylene tube dispensers that release pheromones already dominate the market.
The released pheromones alter the behaviour of the target insect species and attract them to sticky traps. Their main drawback, however, is that the rate at which the pheromones are released into the air is not stable, said a statement here.
