SOA sets up labs to boost agriculture

Bhubaneswar: Three laboratories have been set up by the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS), faculty of agricultural sciences of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) here, to augment farm production and focus on pest control.

The labs, set up under the Experimental Learning Programme, were inaugurated on Monday by SOA vice-president Saswati Das.

Two laboratories were established for production of mushroom and mushrooms seeds under the Plant Pathology department where different varieties of edible mushrooms would be cultivated for marketing purpose. It would also be used to train students in mushroom farming so that they could independently take it up as a business proposition, Prof. Bijay Kumar Sahu, dean, IAS, said.

A separate Biological Control Laboratory was established under the Entomology department where parasites and predator insects would be reared for deployment in farm lands for destroying pests. It would be a cost-effective method of addressing the problem of pest as there would be no need for using pesticides, Prof. Bijay Kumar Mishra, head of the department of Entomology said.

The insects would be reared in the Bio-Agent Breeding Lab while the feed for them would be prepared at the Corcyra Breeding Lab, he said.

SOA was taking steps to create facilities for students in different institutions to help students become self-reliant, Prof. Priyabrat Patnaik, officer-on-special duty, said.

Among others, Prof. Premananda Mohapatra, dean (postgraduate studies), Prof. Santosh Kumar Rout, additional dean and Prof. Kartik Chandra Sahu, head of Plant Pathology department, were present at the inauguration.