The Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad is holding three-day International Entomological Congress, first of its kind in the country, from Dec 16 to 18 with objectives to address the issues of crops' pests including pink boll worm, fruit fly and others that are responsible for the loss of billions of rupees to national economy.
The inaugural session will be presided over by Secretary Agriculture Muhammad Mahmood at 9:00 am on Friday while Punjab Agriculture Minister Muhammad Naeem Akhtar Khan Bhabha will chair the concluding session on Sunday at 12:00 pm. The scientists from USA, Turkey, China and Pakistan will enlighten the audience about their experiences, researches and practices on the issue. . The initiative is taken on the directives of UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan. Chairman Department of Entomology Prof Dr Jalal Arif said that the congress is aimed at providing a platform of discussion to map out a strategy to decrease the impact of the plant diseases. He said that participants would present the models and researches range from the crop production technology to large scale ecosystem. Dr Jalal Arif said that one day exclusive discussion was arranged on the current scenario and management of the pink bollworm . He said that pink bollworm has emerged as menace and difficult to manage in cotton growing areas. They congress will also discuss the citrus greening, pest management and other issues. He said that the congress is designed to focus on oral presentation relating to the insect pest of agronomic, horticulture, forest as well as greenhouse crops. He said that the special areas had been earmarked in the insect ecosystems, toxicology, bio control, epidemiology, bioinformatics, molecular biology, econometrics of insect management program and entomological cottage industries. The different companies of the industry will also set up the stall on the occasion.