Is your plant sick? Just take it to a doctor (video)

Halima Begum in Tangail was tensed with her mangoes being attacked by insects when she came to Plant Doctor Clinic in front of Dainna union parishad premises in Tangail Sadar upazila for solution. 

Sitting under an umbrella with a table and several chairs, three trained up agriculture officials were providing treatment for infected plants and fruits. They advised Halima to use sex pheromone trap for controlling the insects of her mangoes.

Sanwar Hossain of the same area was also advised to use the same method to control insects infecting the brinjal of his field.

Kazim Uddin wanted to know how he could stop dropping fruit from his coconut trees. The clinic advised him to spray fungicides to counter the problem.   

Very few visitors were found at the clinic and the agriculture officials were helping them sincerely.   

Mohammad Osman Gani, deputy assistant agriculture officer in Tangail Sadar upazila, performing as a doctor for the plants and fruits at the clinic, was also requesting the visitors to cut use of chemicals and follow natural methods to control harmful insects and to save environmentally friendly ones.

“Two other agriculture officials in the upazila and I have received five-day training on ‘field diagnostic and plant clinic operation’ at the Plant Protection Wing of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Dhaka in this regard,” he said.

The agriculture officer, however, informed that the clinic will be held only twice in a month on the 2nd and 4th week for the upazila at the same place. 

DAE is implementing the pilot project ‘Plant Doctor Clinic’ in association with Plantwise, a CABI-led initiative (an international organisation for food security).

According to DAE officials, the clinics were started under the pilot project at 10 upazilas in five districts from April 19. The areas are Sadar and Madhupur upazilas in Tangail, Nokla and Nalitabari in Sherpur, Phoolpur and Mutagachha in Mymensingh, Kapasia and Kaliakair in Gazipur and Savar and Dhamrai upazilas in Dhaka.

Initially the project will run till December and people can discuss with the agriculture officials over problems of their plants and fruits and take necessary advice and treatment at the clinics, the officer said.

The main objective to introduce the clinics is to raise awareness among the farmers and people about the diseases of plants and fruits and also motivate them to use natural methods of controlling insects rather than using harmful pesticides, said Mohammad Anwar Hossain, Tangail Sadar Upazila agriculture officer.