Introduction
The division initiated its scientific activities as an Entomology Division with main objective to minimize crop losses due to ravages of insect pests, diseases, weeds, nematodes, and rodents. In 2009, it was renamed as Plant Protection Division in which plant pathology section was included. The main focus of this division is to promote eco-friendly management with combination of nuclear techniques to manage insect pests and diseases of major crops and fruits. Its major achievements are,
1) Developed biological control against sugar cane bores and cotton pests,
2) perfected male annihilation technique to manage fruit flies in guava and mango orchards.
3) Extended the biological control technique with the coordination of 07 private sugar mills and 02 farms of progressive farmers at 09 districts of Sindh. Now a days female attracting system for fruit flies and management of diseases of wheat, rice sugarcane and cotton are in progress.
MAIN THRUST
Biological Control
Behavioural Control
Sterile Insect Technique (SIT)
Botanical pesticides
Cultural and host plant resistance
Etiology and management of crop diseases
RESEARCH MANDATE
Integrated management of sugarcane borers with special reference to biological control
IPM of fruit flies
Eco-friendly management of insect pests of cotton
IPM of rice, brassica and chickpea
Management of post-harvest losses in cereal grains and pulses
Disease management of major crops.
ACHIEVEMENTS
1. Management of Sugarcane Borers
Established 9 bio-control laboratories at private sector and all the laboratories are working satisfactorily
Treated 290,000 acres of sugarcane, 3000 acres of cotton and vegetable crops successfully with bio control technology annually.
Enhanced the resistance in T. chilonis against insecticides with the help of low doses of irradiation
Increased initial survival of T. chilonis in sugarcane field with the provision of supplemental host
Reduced immunity in 4th and 5th instars larvae of sugarcane borers with irradiation for parasitization of Cotesia flavipes
Developed artificial larval diet for the rearing of Chrysoperla carnea
2. Eco-friendly management of fruit flies Bactrocera spp.
Applied successfully MAT in conjunction with bio-control agents for the control of fruit flies
Determined a three component based lure for the attraction of female fruit flies.
Mass rearing of three fruit fly specie Bactrocera zonata, Bactrocera cucurbitae and Bactrocera dorsalis on artificial diets.
Mass rearing of two fruit flies parasitoids, Dirhinus giffardii and Trybliographa daci on natural host.
Provision fruit fly traps to the orchard growers.
3. Eco-Friendly Management of Insect Pests of Cotton
The irradiation dose of 100GYwas validated to induced F1 sterility in the pink bollworm moth as an effective tool of integrated pest management program for cotton bollworm
Biological control in conjunction with behavioral control proved more effective for the management of cotton bollworms as compared to the separate treatments
Earliest sowing of cotton in the month of March found to be the appropriate time for lowest insect pest infestation and highest yield
Mating disruption trough PB-rope proved successful techniques for efficient control of pink bollworm cotton
4. IPM of rice, brassica and chickpea
Neem leaves extract in combination form with salicylic acid and choline chloride proved more effective against mustard aphids in canola crop
Twenty eight advance and released cultivars of rice, 56 brassica (canola &sarson) and 20-30 lines/genotypes of chickpea screened each year for the analysis resistance level against major insect pests.
5. Disease management of major crops
Assessment of wheat rust in farmer field and research trials through surveillance and monitoring
Prevalence of bacterial blight of rice has been confirmed through identification of Xanthomonas oryzae Pv Oryzae
Morphological characterization of fungal and bacterial pathogens associated with crop diseases at NIA Tandojam
FUNDED PROJECTS:
| Sr. No | Title and Number of Project | Duration | Allocation | Remarks |
| INTERNATIONAL: | ||||
| 1. | Eradication of fruit flies Dacus spp. through the application of sterile male technique. (IAEA CRP No. 269/RB. | 1964-67 | US $ 12,000 | Completed |
| 2 | Radiation effect studies on rice stem borers (IAEA CRP No. 666/RB) | 1986-71 | US $ 14,000 | Completed |
| 3. | Evaluation of sterile male technique for the control of fruit flies, Dacus spp. Project No. A-17-ENT-23 Grant No. FG-Pa-148.) | 1969-74 | Rs. 200,832 | Completed |
| 4. | Studies on the ecology and behavior of rice stem borers by using radioisotopes with particular reference to pest management system (IAEA CRP No. 2978/RB) | 1981-84 | US $ 6,000 | Completed |
| 5. | Integrated management of fruit flies, Dacus spp. (IAEA TCP No. PAK/5/018) | 1985 | US $ 165,125 | Completed |
| 6. | Feasibility studies on F1 sterility for the control of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) (IAEA CRP No. 5006/RB) | 1988-93 | US $ 20,000 | Completed |
| 7. | Integrated control of fruit fly, Bactrocera zonata (Saunders). IAEA TC Project. | 1993-94 | US $ 62,600 | Completed |
| 8. | Evaulation of F1 sterility for the control of pink bollworm in the cotton field. (IAEA CRP No. 7168/RB) | 1993-98 | US $ 25,000 | Completed |
| 9. | Control of pink bollworm to improve cotton production (IAEA TC project) | 1995-96 | US $ 167,500 | Completed |
| 10 | Use of nuclear techniques for colonization and production of egg and larval parasitoids of sugarcane borers. (IAEA CRP PAK/10779/RB) | 2000-05 | US $ 30,000 | Completed |
| 11. | Development of female trapping system for efficient management of Bactrocera zonata. (IAEA CRP PAK/11475/RB) | 2001-05 | US $ 25,000 | Completed |
| 12. | Development of biological control for cotton pest management using nuclear techniques. (IAEA TCP No. PAK/5/043) | 2005-07 | US $ 331,780 | Completed |
| 13. | Use of Gamma Irradiation for Quality Production of Beneficial Insects and Their Integration with Eco-friendly Tactics to Manage the Cotton Pests (IAEA CRP No. PAK-13434/RB) | 2005-09 | Euro 10,000 | Completed |
| 14 | Exploitation of Nuclear Techniques for the Development of Biological Control to Manage the Fruit Flies, Bactrocera spp. (IAEA CRP No. PAK-13913) | 2006-10 | Euro 5000 | Completed |
| 15. | Augmentation of Parasitoids for Area-wide Management of Sugarcane Borers Using Nuclear Techniques (IAEA CRP No. PAK-13940) | 2006-11 | Euro 5000 | Completed |
| 16. | Sharing Regional Knowledge on the Use of the Sterile Insect Technique within Integrated Area-Wide Fruit Fly Pest Management Programme (IAEA RAS/5/049) | 2007-09 | US $ 175,580 | Completed |
| 17 | Sharing Regional Knowledge on the Use of the Sterile Insect Technique within Integrated Area-Wide Fruit Fly Pest Management Programme (IAEA RAS/5/052) | 2009-11 | — | Completed |
| 18. | Management of Bactrocera cucurbitae and Dacus ciliatus through the use X-ray radiation in vegetable agro- ecosystem. (IAEA Coordinated Project No. 18584) | 2014-17 | Euro 18000 | Completed |
| 19. | Development of Biological Control for the Management of Sugarcane Top Borer Scripophaga nivella (Fab.) Using Nuclear Techniques. (IAEACRP No. 18583) | 2015-19 | Euro 18000 | Completed |
| 20. | Counterpart in IAEA TC project Pak5053 “Strengthening and Enhancing National Capabilities for the Development of Climate Smart Crops, Improvement in Animal Productivity and Management of Soil, Water, and Nutrient Resources Using Nuclear and Related Techniques”. | 2022-25 | Counterpart | Ongoing |
| NATIONAL: | ||||
| 21 | Integrated control of sugarcane borers (Sugar Mills) | 1989 -2014 | Rs. 0.3 million | Completed |
| 22 | Host plant resistance of bio-regulator treated cotton to bollworms and sucking complex and its impact on yield and yield components (PSF No. S-AEARC (AGR(141) | 1995-97 | Rs. 331.908 | Completed |
| 23 | Integrated management of fruit flies in Pakistan. PARC ALP No. 01010103) | 2001-05 | Rs. 2.012 million | Completed |
| 24 | Management of Insect pest of Bt cotton through the use of Bio-control technology. Awarded by Sindh Govt. | 2010-12 | Rs.2.0 million | Completed |
| 25 | Assessment of Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB) of Rice in Sindh Province and its Management Exploring Resistant GermplasmALP-PARC.CS-263 | 2016-19 | Rs 3.2 million | Completed |
| 26 | Integrated Pest Management of Sugarcane Borers Project (Coordinated Project with Faran Sugar Mills) worth Rs. 1.5 million (March 2015- Feb. 2022) | 2015 To date | 1.5 Million per Annum. | Ongoing |
| 27 | Augmentation of biocontrol agents for the management of insect pests of cotton SPD Dashboard project | 2019-22 | 10 Million | Completed |
| 28 | Augmentation of biocontrol agents for the management of insect pests of cotton PSDP project | 2021-24 | 9.303 | Ongoing |
| 29. | Advances in bio-control technology and development of pheromone traps for IPM of field and horticultural crops (BTD-SPD) project | 2024-27 | 10 million | Ongoing |
PRODUCTS
| Ser | Description | Details |
| 1 | Product Name | Biocontrol cards Tricho-cards Chryso-cards |
| 2 | Product Use | To manage insect pest of field crops |
| 3 | R&D Institute | NIA / PAEC |
| 4 | Picture |  Chryso-card  Tricho-card |
| 5 | Cmrl Potential / Buyer | Sugar mills Progressive farmers |
| 6 | Collaboration | NCA organization, Sugar Mills, Sindh Govt. Agriculture Research Institutes/ Public & private R&D organizations. |
| Ser | Description | Details |
| 1 | Product Name | Fruit fly traps |
| 2 | Product Use | To manage fruit fly of different horticultural crops. |
| 3 | R&D Institute | NIA / PAEC |
| 4 | Picture |  Fruit fly Trap |
| 5 | Cmrl Potential / Buyer | Farms of Progressive Farmers |
| 6 | Collaboration | NCA organization, Sindh Govt. Agriculture Research Institutes/ Public & private R&D organizations. |
MAIN THRUST OF DIVISION
Plant Protection Division
1. Management of insect pests, in order of priority:
i) Sugarcane borers
ii) Fruitfly in Mango and Guava
iii) Cotton insect pests, Borers, mealybug
iv) Rice stem borer
2. Post-harvest losses in Cereal Grains & pulses
3. Plant Pathology of NIA’s mandate crops
NIA-developed Bio-control cards and traps must be commercialized by involving private sector as an income generating activity. Plant Protection Div., may also develop a PSDP project/PC-1 on “Fruit fly bio-control in mango & guava”, with emphasis on social mobilization (involving local govts. Extension Service, etc) to popularize bio-control of pests.