FAO one-day training on integrated pest management (IPM) and the use of crop disease models was held in Dushanbe on November 26.
According to the European Union Delegation to Tajikistan, The training aim was to enhance national experts’ skills on the application of modern pest management techniques and early-warning systems based on agrometeorological data. This important initiative is part of the European Union-funded project to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Similar to many countries in Central Asia, Tajikistan faces the challenges and issues related to the pest management and plant diseases. The need to accurately identify pest problems and plant diseases and understand ecosystem interactions would enable farmers to choose less hazardous pest and disease management techniques through increasing the menu of options.
The event reportedly brought together about 25 representatives and specialists from the State Agency on Plant Protection and Chemicalization of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agency of Hydrometeorology under the Committee for Environment Protection, Tajik Agrarian University.
Participants were provided with an opportunity to learn about the most common agricultural diseases in Tajikistan, including some grape and stone fruits’ diseases, and the four steps of the integrated pest management procedure. The latter enabled to discuss the environmental conditions favoring the development of the pathogens and management practices that focus on preventing pests and diseases attacks.
The IPM approach integrates preventive and corrective measures to keep pests from causing significant problems with minimum risk or hazard to humans and environment. Adopting these strategies provides economic benefits due to sustained development, increased productivity and reduced pest damage.
“Integrated pest management is an environmentally-friendly technology and a multifaceted approach to pest management that contributes to minimizing negative impacts on humans and environment. Introducing this technique is an important step towards providing healthy and viable food for the population of the country,” emphasized FAO Representative in Tajikistan, Oleg Guchgeldiyev.
“The training will contribute to better technical skills of national experts in IPM and early-warning systems, based on agro-meteorological information, while this knowledge can improve yields and assure food safety, in the face of accelerating environmental stressors,” said Fadi Karam, FAO agro-meteorological systems expert.
Earlier this year, the FAO established three agrometeorological stations, which, along with the general meteorological data, was providing crop specific information, as a part of the effort to build country-wide early warning system for agricultural producers.
Developing institutional and human capacity is incredibly essential to promote and adopt sustainable agriculture. It is also important to integrate scientific and traditional knowledge to solve location-specific problems.
