First Group Meeting of AINP on Vertebrate Pest Management organized

17^th October 2015, Jodhpur

First Group Meeting of All India Network Project on Vertebrate Pest Management was organized from 15 to 17 October, 2015 at Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur. The Meeting was graced by Dr. J.S. Sandhu, Deputy Director General (CS), ICAR as Chief Guest and Dr. P. K. Chakrabarty, Assistant Director General (PP & B), ICAR as Guest of Honour. The meeting was attended by about 80 delegates from various parts of country. Dr. A.K. Mishra, Director (I/C), CAZRI, Jodhpur briefed the gathering about the origin and genesis of the Project as AICRP on Rodent Control in 1977 and later as AINP on Vertebrate Pest Management in 2014. Dr. R.S. Tripathi, Network Coordinator and Dr. V. Vasudeva Rao presented the progress report of Rodent Control and Agricultural Ornithology, respectively. Dr. Chakrabarty expressed his satisfaction stating that the work done by the Project in the field of rodent and bird management has reached the farmers and benefited them. He briefed about the genesis of the new AINP on Vertebrate Pest Management which was launched by Dr. S. Ayyapan, Director General, ICAR and Secretary DARE on 21.02.2015 at New Delhi. He said that now the project is further mandated to replicate such endeavors for higher vertebrates like, Nilgai, Wild Boar & Monkey, as these animals have become a big menace in agriculture sector in recent years. In his Inaugural address, Dr. Sandhu also appreciated the efforts of the Project and expressed satisfaction on the progress made so far. He emphasized that the technology developed for rodent and bird management should be transferred to all the ICAR institutes and agricultural universities to spread them in the field. On this occasion publications and CDs in regional languages were also released.

The progress made by different centres was discussed in the Technical Sessions. Special lectures on ‘Rodent Diversity’, ‘Vertebrate Pest Problems in Non-Farm Sectors and Policy Issues were delivered by Dr. S. Talmale, Dr. Malla Reddy and Dr. AMK Mohan Rao.. In the plenary session a thorough discussion was held for making further recommendations on the technical program.

(Source:ICAR-CAZRI, Jodhpur)