Various events to mark ‘Parthenium Awareness Week’ from 16th
   Date :13-Aug-2021

Dr J S Mishra_1 &nbs
 Dr J S Mishra, Director, Directorate of Weed Research along with others addressing the press conference.
 
Staff Reporter :
 
The programme aims to to curb the spread of Parthenium plants in agricultural fields and vacant lands 
 
With an aim to curb the spread of Parthenium plants in agricultural fields and vacant land, Directorate of Weed Research will be organising a series of programmes under ‘Parthenium Awareness Week’ from August 16 to August 22. Addressing a press conference, Dr J S Mishra, Director, Directorate of Weed Research said programmes would be conducted to spread awareness about the harmful effects of Parthenium on agricultural crops and human beings. He said that Parthenium plants are commonly found in agricultural crops such as rice, jowar, maize, bajra, peanuts, and near vacant land, railway lines and industrial areas. He said that if human beings are in frequent contact with Parthenium plants, it could lead to diseases like dermatitis, eczema, allergy and fever.
 
The milk of the lactating animals becomes bitter. Explaining about biological eradication methods, he said that Directorate of Weed Research has imported a Mexican beetle from Mexico. The beetles have helped in controlling the growth of Parthenium plants. He added that Directorate of Weed Research has released around 20 lakh beetles in different cities of the country. Dr.P K Singh, Chief Scientist said that scientists developed economically feasible technology for the farmers. For educating the farmers about the newly developed technology, Directorate of Agricultural Research organized several training workshops and promoted them through electronic medium and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp. Chief Scientist Dr P K Singh, Dr Sushil Kumar and Public Relation Officer Basant Mishra were present.