As the agriculture sector is one of the key contributors to the economy of many countries, integrated pest management plays a vital role towards a sustainable agriculture and quality food production.
Held in Kuching from July 25th until 27th, the International Conference on Emerging Trend in Integrated Pest and Disease Management for Quality Food Production (IPMFP 2017) and International Conference on Virus Disease One health-One World (ICVD 2017) which was attended by 150 participants provides a platform to exchange information regarding the integrated pest and disease management and share news on the disease caused by virus to field of crops to increase the quality of food production.
Present during the opening ceremony on July 25th was the Assistant Minister of Education and Technological Research YB Dr. Annuar bin Rapáee who said that the conferences was timely for the State as with more emerging viral diseases affecting not only human being but also plants, it could affect food production as well as the economics of the country.
“The integrated pest management has an important role in sustainable agriculture by providing maximum economic yield to the farmers, while improving or maintaining the production site and protecting the environment,” said President of V Sivaram Research Foundation, India and Chairman of IPMFP 2017 and ICDV 2017 Professor Dr Sivaram Venkatarame Gowda.
Adding more, Professor Dr Sivaram said that the integrated pest management programs use current, comprehensive information of the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment. The information combining with available pest control methods to manage pest damage is least hazardous method to people, property and the environment.
With the advent of biotechnology that has great impact on integrated pest management; Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Sarawak Branch Associate Professor Dr Firdaus Abdullah said that it will benefit the farmers not only in terms of economic yield but also the environment and health.
