Zambia has announced plans of replicating a formulation invented by Indian female Scientists to eliminate Fall Army Worms.
Zambia’s Ambassador to India Judith Kapijimpanga says in a statement that the inventing institution Parijat Industries will be linked to the relevant bodies in the country to this effect.
She has named institutions including the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU), the Ministry of Agriculture, National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research (NISIR) and Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) among others
Mrs. Kapijimpanga says Fall Army Worms are devastating the country in addition to erratic rainfall causing food shortage and that it will be economically viable for Zambia to obtain the formulation directly from the manufacturer.
She has requested the Parijat Industries to extend its annual scholarship program for agrochemical students to Zambian youths to encourage skills and technology transfer.
Through the Comprehensive ‘FAW Management Strategy’, a plant based contrafeedent, would see the young worms starve to death as feeding is disrupted due to the application of the biological formulation.
Parijat Industries Director Vikram Anand says his company is willing to send a team of scientists to Zambia for joint efforts in eliminating the worms and build a pesticide manufacturing facility if the country is interested.
This came to light when Zambia’s High Commissioner to India JUDITH Kapijimpanga toured Parijat Industries Research and Development facilities in Ambala, in the Indian State of Haryana.