Safe use of herbicide and effective weed management course
In Bangladesh, approximately 350 species of weeds have been identified, and in Asian countries, these weeds cause roughly 33% of total crop loss. Because of the threat posed by weeds, the use of herbicides in Bangladesh has risen rapidly in the past few years. Herbicides are a great asset to protect crops from weeds; however when not used properly, they can be dangerous to human health or lead to the premature development of herbicide-resistant weeds.
For this reason, a training program entitled “Safe Use of Herbicide and Effective Weed Management” was held at the Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service office (RDRS) in Rangpur during 16-20 January 2011 for national scientists, extension officers, and herbicide marketing agents. The 21 participants included scientists from Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Sylhet Agricultural University, RDRS Bangladesh, and Peoples Resource Oriented Voluntary Association (PROVA); as well as agricultural chemical companies Syngenta and ACI.
The training was led by Abul Hashem, Australian senior weed scientist from the Department of Agriculture and Food of Western Australia and renowned Bangladeshi weed scientist, SM Rezaul Karim from Bangladesh’s Agricultural University; and coordinated by Md. Enamul Haque, CIMMYT cropping systems agronomist, and KM Marufuzzaman, program manager of RDRS Bangladesh.
The training course covered a range of topics on weeds management theory and practice as well as on the safe use of herbicides. In the theory classes, the trainees learned about the scientific classification of weeds, various weed control methods, herbicide resistance, the significance and utility of herbicide label and MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet), safety requirements for spraying herbicides, personal protection equipment required in operation, among other subjects.
In the practical classes, the participants received instruction on how to set up a weed management trial, how to make assessments on weed control treatments, sprayer calibration, how to calculate spray volume and herbicide volume, how to read and use herbicide related information (e.g. spray chart, herbicide level and Material Safety Data Sheet), how to identify weed species, and how to develop a comprehensive weed management plan.
Based on post-course informal assessments, the training has already proven useful to the participants. They came to the training course with 5- 25% knowledge of safe herbicide usage. Most of the participants indicated that at the end of the training, their knowledge and understanding about weed management, herbicide use and herbicide safety requirements increased by 75- 90%. They also confessed that they had not previously received such training on herbicide use at university or during their employment with various research or extension organizations.
The training was organized under the collaborative research project “Addressing constraints to pulses in cereals-based cropping systems, with particular reference to poverty alleviation in north-western Bangladesh” which began in 2006 and involves the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), BARI, RDRS, PROVA, DAE, CIMMYT, and Murdoch University-Australia.
The training program was funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Crawford Fund Australia and co-sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and Food of Western Australia (DAFWA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Murdoch University, Australia, and RDRS Bangladesh.
The Wheat Research Center (WRC) in Bhairahawa welcomed 20 early and mid-career wheat breeders from four CSISA countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan) to its scenic campus in Nepal’s Terai region to participate in a two-week regional Wheat Improvement and Pathology course which was organized in collaboration with Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) from 29 November- 12 December 2010.
“NL 3063 yielded 7% higher than the current most popular variety, Gautam, in three years of multi-location testing in Nepal,” said Madan Raj Bhatta, wheat breeder at Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), adding that it also performed better than other varieties in on-farm testing.
EL BATAN, 06 September 2010—On a historic day for CIMMYT, Director General Thomas A. Lumpkin and Dr. S Ayyappan, Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), signed a joint declaration of intent in the presence of H.E. Mr. Sharad Pawar, Honorable Minister of Agriculture of India, to establish the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA). Located in India but serving the entire region, BISA will constitute a state-of-the-art, international agricultural research and development organization that applies cutting-edge technologies to improve cropping systems and help farmers address current and emerging challenges to food security such as climate change, natural resource scarcities, and rising market demand. According to the declaration, the new institute commemorates the “…fond and respectful memory of the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, and his contribution to the Green Revolution of India and of South Asia.”
The meeting consisted of lectures on challenges and achievements in wheat breeding, including improvement of rust resistance. Alex Morgounov, of CIMMYT-Turkey and head of the International Wheat Improvement Program, gave an overview of the 8th International Wheat Conference, which was held in St. Petersburg during 01-04 June 2010, and reflected on the current status and latest achievements in wheat breeding. In general, the attending scientists noted that the Kazakhstan-Siberia Network is developing dynamically and that participating institutions are providing varieties for testing that display a higher performance of desirable agronomic traits in comparison with previous years, including resistance to rust (like Ug99). Additionally, breeders are working in harmony to: develop research methodologies; evaluate wheat rust diseases on an international scale; develop criteria to share credit for joint creation of varieties; and increase study on leaf rust, stem rust, and septoria leaf blotch. This shows that there has been an improvement in variety selection and that breeders take KASIB collaboration seriously. Impressed, a number of agencies not currently participating in KASIB expressed their desire to join the network.
On 30 June 2010, a USAID Famine Seed Project meeting was organized at CIMMYT’s South Asia Office in Kathmandu, Nepal. Seventeen participants, including those from the Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), CIMMYT-Nepal, CIMMYT-Bangladesh, and Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) HUB partners in Nepal, attended the meeting. The objectives of the day were to: (1) review 2009-10 crop cycle work and progress, (2) to develop a work plan for the upcoming 2010-11 cycle and, (3) to strengthen collaboration with technology-delivering stakeholders.
The Chinese Academy of Engineering honored Zhonghu He, principal scientist of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program and China country representative, for his work with wheat quality improvement and promotion of China-CIMMYT collaboration. Zhonghu received the Guanghua Award in a ceremony on 09 June 2010 in Beijing. Established in 1996, this award recognizes Chinese scientists who have made signification contributions in applied science and management. To date, only eight scientists with agriculture or forestry backgrounds have received the Guanghua Award.
More than 600 wheat breeders, pathologists and representatives of national agricultural research institutions arrived in St. Petersburg to discuss rusts affecting wheat production globally. After introductory remarks byJeanie Borlaug Laube (BGRI chair), Ronnie Coffman (BGRI vice-chair), and Dr. Swapan Datta, DDG (CS) of ICAR, day started with session on ‘World of Rust: Global perspectives’:
Over 60 researchers, field technicians, farmers, machinery manufacturers, service providers, and extension workers attended two recent conservation agriculture (CA) training events in Bangladesh. The first event was held at the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) station in Comilla on 28-29 April, followed by an event at the Wheat Research Centre of BARI in Dinajpur on 04-05 May. The events focused on machinery operation and maintenance, as well as the agronomy of dry direct-seeded rice (DSR). Both were part of joint CIMMYT-
“Machinery operation and maintenance is vital for rapid dissemination of CA-based technologies,” said Jagadish Timsina, IRRI-CIMMYT senior cropping system agronomist. He added that this ACIAR-funded ricemaize project has been adapting and evaluating the PTOS and the bed former/planter at project sites, and has been refining these machines for their use in different soils with the help of agriculture engineers from the national agriculture research intuitions involved in the project. The project has given special emphasis to training and capacity building for machine use and has already trained more than 120 people from government and non-governmental organizations, as well as farmers, service providers, machinery manufacturers, and extension workers since it started in November 2008.
Various research and extensions workers collaborating with the project “Sustainable Intensification of Rice-Maize Systems in Bangladesh” organized five farmer field days throughout March and April 2010. The events took place in the districts of Comilla, Rangpur, and Rajshahi and attracted over 350 farmers.
Though the project, which started in November 2008, initially focused on adaptive research in farmers’ fields, it is now starting to emphasize dissemination of improved CA practicies and SSNM technologies to farmers as well. This will be done through training and capacity building with researchers, farmers, extension workers, machinery manufacturers, and service providers.