This young scientist helping farmers fight pests without using any chemicals

Organic pesticides are the way forward. Unlike the expensive chemical pesticides, these simple organic pesticides derived from the nature, does not cost much. And unlike chemical pesticides, these organic pesticides do not come with any harmful impacts on the environment. And therefore, farmers may not have to go on buying expensive pesticides to take care of the microbial infections and they can still step away from harmful toxins. Organic pesticides are usually considered as those pesticides that come from natural sources.

These natural sources are usually plants, as is the case with pyrethrum (pyrethins), rotenone or ryania (botanical insecticides), or minerals, such as boric acid, cryolite, or diatomaceous earth. Dr Tanmoy Ghosh, an young agricultural scientist and microbiologist from Bengal, who is a professor at a leading college in West Bengal- Dinabandhu Andrews College, has done some extensive studies to come up with some easy solutions for the farmers, which according to him, can work wonders, if used and applied properly. Speaking to Bizz Buzz exclusively, Dr Ghosh explains how solution to this critical problem in agriculture has to be found in nature only.

There must have been some trigger behind getting into this particular scientific or research work. So what prompted you to start this study and research, besides your academic profession?

The relationship of man with agricultural work is from that of primitive age. To meet the food needs of the growing population, agriculture has gradually become a major source of livelihood. According to evolutionary theory, microorganisms (fungi, bacteria, viruses, algae, parasites) were created long before plants and humans were created. The biggest problem in agriculture is microbial infection for which farmers are busy and have to invest a lot of money to buy various chemical pesticides for crop protection which increases the cost of a crop many times over. I had always thought of addressing this issue and help the farmers in whatever way I can.

There must have been some environmental concerns as well?

Yes, you are absolutely right. It was not only the microbial infection for which farmers are busy and have to invest a lot of money to buy various chemical pesticides for crop protection, if you look at it, the pesticides are sprayed in air when it sprayed and after being applied to the trees, they are washed away in rain water and spread elsewhere which later pollutes the environment. It has even been observed many times that the effect of a chemical has caused damage to the next crop. The whole animal world is the child of nature, so the solution to all the problems is hidden in this nature.

How long have you been working on this, or in this particular area?

You can say that I have been working tirelessly for the last three years or so to drive home my point.

So what were you trying to prove or what have you driven home?

The whole idea was to prove that Neem, Sajne, Datura and Bon Tulsi extracts work well in rice and oilseed mustard, these extracts act as antimicrobial agents and work against several fungi that attack on rice and mustard seed. And I could prove that.

Did you come up with any other interesting findings, in the process which are also relevant and important?

After applying these extract we could store them well after drying to preserve the seed for future. The health and immunity of the plant is enhanced by cultivating seedlings from those seeds at a later time and the yield is also good.

How difficult was it to prove all these?

This was not an easy research. It required huge patience and technology to prove the efficacy of those plant extract. All plant poses several bioactive compounds that are responsible for the antifungal property of those plants. So to know the nomenclature and several characteristics of compounds a method had been used which is called Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) to ensure the attacking of pathogen and how do they infect on seed, histopathological studies were done. FACS was another method applied here to examine how plant extracts were having their impacts on pathogen.

What were the key findings?

By attacking several mycoflora, the protein and other nutrients content by rice and mustard were decreased after storage period, to ensure this SDS page were done. As many as six Pathogenic mycoflora were identified from the rice and mustard. Those are: Rhizopus sp., Fusarium sp., Alternaria sp., Rhizoctonia sp., Aspergillus sp., and Cochliobolus sp. These fungi were identified morphologically and identified upto species level by 18Sr RNA gene sequencing, and so on. My research clearly revealed how effective these very common and readily available ingredients like Neem , Bon Tulsi, Datura and Sajne are as fungicides.

What do you want to achieve through this study, or to put it differently, what was the basic purpose of your study?

The sole purpose of my study and research is to stand by the side of the food producing farmers, by working tirelessly and putting smiles on their faces. I will go on doing research in this field in future so that agricultural management can improve and farmers can choose eco-friendly ways in agricultural activities.