TFRI launches app on insects and pests

Jabalpur-based Tropical Forest Research Institute (TFRI) has launched a mobile phone application containing details about insects and pests and their management, which will come handy for farmers and other stake-holders.

The app "INSECT PESTS" is a tool that provides information on insect and pests found in various forest areas and their management in tropical forests of central India, a senior scientist said on Saturday.

"The app containing various details on forest insects and pests, forest nurseries, plantations and their management was activated on Saturday," Neelesh Yadav, scientist and head, Information Technology Cell, TFRI Jabalpur, told PTI.

He said the app is useful for forest departments, progressive farmers, researchers etc.

"The app contains information in three categories-- insect and pests of forest nurseries, of plantations, of natural forest--and their management," said Yadav.

Underlining features of the app, he said various in-built options provide details about each insect and pest separately.

"The app has various features to identify pests, their host plants, infestation period, the nature of damage, their brief life history and also the measures to control them," said Yadav.

He said once an app-user selects the option about a particular insect, a tab allows him/her to select additional information for viewing further.

Two decades ago, Heartwood Borer pest had damaged hundreds of sal trees in Madhya Pradesh.

The pest had first struck Balaghat district in 1905.