Network Cordinator's Desk
AINP-VPM
There is dire need to increase food production to meet the rising demand for food. Crop production is significantly impacted by pests and diseases, leading to 10-15% pre-harvest losses. These losses occur due to the damage caused by a variety of pests, including vertebrate herbivores. Rodents alone are responsible for over 15% of food losses at both pre-harvest and post-harvest stages. Apart from direct crop damage, rodents also contaminate food, fodder, and feed, and are vectors for several communicable diseases. In addition to rodents, depredatory birds cause substantial damage to crops. Their impact, particularly on horticultural commodities, can be significant and poses a threat to both crop yields and food security. The expansion of agricultural land into fringing forest areas has led to wild animals such as blue bulls, wild boars, and monkeys encroaching on farm lands. While these animals are protected under wildlife conservation laws, they cause significant crop damage, further complicating food production. Except for some scattered reports on their ecology and habitat analysis no systematic efforts have been made so far from their management point. ICAR during XII Plan through AINP on Vertebrate Pest Management (AINP-VPM) initiated the R&D activities on management of such higher mammals in agricultural landscape across the country.
The AINP on Vertebrate Pest Management is the Amalgamation of two erstwhile AINPs i.e Agricultural Ornithology and Rodent Control and a new component of higher vertebrates (wild herbivores). The AINP on Agricultural Ornithology and AINP on Rodent Control in its independent capacity generated good information on the diversity, distribution, bio-ecology, and behavior of major rodent and bird pests in various agricultural landscapes. The project has also highlighted the role of beneficial birds as natural predators of insect pest and rodents, which could be integrated into Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies to control pest populations. Besides various rodent and bird management strategies have been developed, these technologies are tailored to specific crops and regions, such as rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, coconut, and arid crops. Despite our sincere endeavors the rodent/bird pests continue to threaten food as well health security of the Country. The expansion of farm lands to fringing forest areas and lack of food source in natural habitats have altered a number of wild herbivours such as blue bull, wild boars and monkeys etc into farm lands. While these have statutory protection under wild life act, enormous damage to crops has called for undertaking research to develop suitable strategies to ward off these crop raiding animals from crop fields.
Further, the pest problem in agriculture is likely to exacerbate due to due to climate change, altered rainfall patterns, and land use changes. Vertebrates, including rodents, birds, and other higher vertebrates, are highly adaptable and will likely thrive under new climatic conditions, which could make pest control even more difficult. Introduction of high value crops by replacing traditional crops, pressurized irrigation system and protection cultivation, ensure the availability of year round green vegetation, which provided more favorable conditions for vertebrate herbivores to thrive. These factors necessitate more effective and adaptive pest management strategies to cope with the growing challenges posed by these pests.
The AINP on Vertebrate Pest Management with its Headquarters at ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur and eight centers (PJTSAU, Hyderabad, PAU Ludhiana (RC&AO), KAU, Thrissur, UAS, Bangalore, RARS, ANGRAU, Maruteru, AAU, Jorhat, AAU, Lakhimpur, AAU, Anand) located across different agro-climatic zones is instrumental in R&D activities on management of these pests in agricultural landscape across the country. In the present plan (2021-26) the program has been further strengthen by including four new Voluntary centres (BUAT, Banda, IGKV, Raipur, ICAR-CITH, Srinigar and Dr YSPUHF, Sloan) and undertaking R&D activities on aspects like metagenomics, emerging pests, changes in pestilence/species due to change in land use pattern and strengthening the farmers’ participatory research and capacity building activities.