Ispahani Agro Ltd launches organic insecticide 'Fawligen' to fight fall armyworm

FE Team | Published: October 06, 2020 21:37:32

The National Fall Armyworm Taskforce organised a day-long workshop on "Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Control Management" at BARC auditorium in the city recently, said a press release.
Dr Abdur Rauf, additional secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, inaugurated the commercialisation process of organic pesticide "Fawligen or SfNPV" in Bangladesh as the chief guest.
Kamala Ranjan Das, additional secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Md Asad Ullah, director, Sorejomin Wing, Dr Md Nazirul Islam as a guest of honor, director general of BARI, Dr Md Israel Hossain, director general of BWMRI, attended the opening ceremony while Dr Shah Mohammad Bakhtiyar, executive chairman of BARC, presided over it.
After official inauguration of 'Fawligen', Fawzia Yasmeen, director of Ispahani Agro Limited, gave a short talk on the topic. Dr Timothy J Kropnik, country representative of Summit, Bangladesh, also presented the main article in the workshop.
Fall Armyworm whose scientific name is Spodopterafrugiperda, is worldwide known as a deadly harmful and destructive insect. It attacks about 60 crops, including maize, sorghum, cotton, nuts, tobacco, and a variety of falls and vegetables.
However, the attack rate of maize crop is the highest. Insects cause severe damage to crops by eating the leaves of trees. Chemical pesticides are not very much effective in controlling these insects but the insects can be effectively controlled by applying organic pesticides at the right time, in the right way.
Though this insect is mainly from American continent, in 2016 it was attacked in Africa and in 2018 it was attacked in different countries of South Asia including Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
As there is no effective organic pesticide for controlling fall armyworm insects in Bangladesh, Ispahani Agro Limited has contacted AgBiTech, an organic pesticide manufacturer in Texas, USA, to provide effective pesticide 'Fawligen' in Bangladesh. It is then approved for use in controlling fall armyworm insects based on satisfactory results from all types of lab and field tests.
The National Fall Armyworm Taskforce, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute, Simit, USAID and above all, the assistance of the Department of Agricultural Extension are gratefully acknowledged for all aspects of the search for organic pesticides, import into the country, permission for commercialisation following due process.
Approximately 35 high officials working in different national and international organisations attended the workshop.