Natural virus controls voracious pest

摘要

Traditional control methods have been combined with science to produce an integrated pest management strategy to fight pod borer and increase crop yields. The village of Ashta, tucked away in West Central India in the Kinwat tribal area of Maharashtra, is now the centre of a major breakthrough in agriculture, one that could potentially help farmers around the world to combat one of the most pervasive agricultural pests, Farmers in Ashta have long been known for their quick adoption of new agricultural practices. In the 19605 and 70S, Ashta's farmers were among the first to adopt new technologies and crop varieties that increased agricultural output in India, Ashta farmers later adopted synthetic insecticides to reap better and bigger harvests. Success of using these chemically-based methods was encouraging, but did not last, After a period of good years, successful farming required increasing investment in pesticides and yielded decreasing profits from crops, as detailed in a recent special reportby Future Harvest.