GUNTUR: The construction of the bio-control laboratory at the Agriculture Research Institute at Lam in Guntur district has finally been cleared after a new design was submitted by the authorities undertaking necessary soil tests.

Despite the proposal getting approved last year, work could not go on as the scientists expressed apprehensions because the site had black cotton soil, which was not suitable for the location of a bio-control laboratory.

Need for the laboratory was felt in the agriculture-intensive Guntur district, which had high usage of inorganic pesticides.

Work to begin soon

Surfacing the site with other type of soils was the instruction given by the authorities, which finally approved the revised plan.

Work was expected to begin soon and the laboratory would be built by the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corporation Limited (APSHCL).

"The reason for its coming up in the ARI campus is the presence of many scientists at the campus," said Guntur Agriculture Joint Director P. Ajit Kumar.

The laboratory was expected to come out with bio-pesticides to fight Trichoderma Viridi, Bacillus Thurongisis, N.P.V. and Trichocards on a large scale.

Equipment soon

The Central Insecticide Board had already cleared the proposal and the laboratory equipment would arrive after the completion of the building, he said.

The Government had allotted Rs.25 lakhs for the building but the APSHCL authorities were insisting on increase in the allocation, as more funds were required to lay approach roads, he added.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail