Dar wants movement for more food at less cost for Asians

MORE FOODS AT LESS COSTS for more dryland farmers in Asia – this was the message of Director General William Dar of ICRISAT at the opening day of an Asian gathering of scientists in the City of Hyderabad yesterday, 21 June Manila time. Dar was Guest of Honor at the First Asian PGPR Congress for Sustainable Agriculture held at the main campus of ANGRAU in the capital of Andhra Pradesh, India. Among those present were the Honorable Minister for Agriculture of Andhra Pradesh, Raghuveera Reddy; Vice Chancellor of ANGRAU P Raghava Reddy, Director of CRIDA B Venkateswarulu, MS Reddy from Auburn University, Laxmi Kantha Reddy, Director of Research-ANGRAU, and S Desai, Organizing Secretary for the conference.

The Congress will run up to 24 June. ICRISAT is the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, and ANGRAU is the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University. ICRISAT runs several partnership programs with ANGRAU and CRIDA, the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture of India.

Based on the applied science of ICRISAT, a short list of low-cost inputs now includes micro-doses of fertilizers, drip irrigation, community rainwater harvesting structures, and crops resistant to drought, pests and diseases. The list today includes PGPR, acronym for plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria. PGPR organisms grow in or around roots of crops and produce fertilizers (commercial products have the generic name bio-fertilizers) or safeguard such crops from pests and diseases (bio-protectants).

Dar said, 'The key to a sustainable future lies in improving crop productivity through ecologically friendly farming systems that are more effective in harnessing nature, and that will go a long way in enhancing the livelihoods of the poor living in the semi-arid tropics.' In other words, man must rely more on natural materials and methods and less on chemical agriculture. Increasing costs prevent poor farmers from being good at their farming. For instance, chemical pesticides amount to 50% of the total cost of producing such crops as cotton and pigeon pea and must be avoided.

Dar said that 'over-reliance on chemical pesticides has resulted in safety risks' to farmers, along with 'outbreaks of secondary pests normally held in check by natural enemies, environmental contamination, decrease in biodiversity of natural enemies, and insecticide resistance.' That explains why we have more pests and they are more destructive. Some pests are now resistant to insecticides. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides harm the soil and water systems.

To protect the crops and, therefore, poor farmer investments, 'Enhancing soil health is a key strategy in the drylands,' Dar said. That is to say, conditions around the roots must be enhanced so that crops will yield more, lose less to pests and diseases, as well as cost less to grow, including water.

Scientists at ICRISAT have so far isolated and identified a large number of not only bacteria but also fungi that have potentials for producing bio-fertilizers (such as phosphorus, nitrogen and iron) and bio-protectants (anti-bacteria, anti-fungus, anti-insect). They have also started work on herbal plant composts that can help manage insect pests and fungal diseases.

In his address, anticipating that 'during the course of this Congress, new insights and ideas will emerge between and among participants,' Dar called for a movement 'to ensure food for the poor in the drylands using low-cost inputs.'