Bio Control Laboratory and Pesticides Testing Laboratory Scheme

What is the Bio Control Laboratory and Pesticides Testing Laboratory scheme?

Bio Control Laboratory and Pesticides Testing Laboratory is a state plan scheme of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Government of Meghalaya. According to the department's FAQ on agriculture schemes, the key objective is "production of Bio Control Agents such as Trichoderma, Trichogramma, etc. and further distribution to farmers as awareness and demonstration for organic Plant Health Management in order to promote organic crop production."

Bio Control Laboratory and Pesticides Testing Laboratory is funded by the State Government. The Meghalaya Government portal lists the sponsor as "State", the concerned department as the Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Department and the beneficiaries as "Farmers".

The scheme is a laboratory scheme with a farmer-facing tail. The state runs its own bio control unit, multiplies useful organisms there, and then hands them out free so that farmers see them work. That second half: "awareness and demonstration"; is the department's own description of why the distribution is free rather than subsidised. A farmer who has watched Trichoderma suppress a root-rot problem on his own plot is far more likely to keep using biological control than one who has only read about it.

Two functions under one head

• Bio Control Laboratory; produces bio-control agents and distributes them free to farmers for use in plant health management.
• Pesticides Testing Laboratory, the quality-testing side, part of the department's regulatory role over pesticides sold in the state.

What are Trichoderma and Trichogramma?

The two organisms the department names are the workhorses of Indian biological control, and they do quite different jobs:

• Trichoderma is a fungus applied to soil or used to treat seed. It colonises the root zone and suppresses soil-borne fungal diseases: damping off, root rot, wilt, that otherwise call for a chemical drench. It is particularly useful in Meghalaya's high-rainfall soils, where fungal disease pressure is heavy through the monsoon.
• Trichogramma is a tiny parasitic wasp. It lays its eggs inside the eggs of crop pests such as stem borers and fruit borers, so the pest never hatches. Releases are timed to the pest's egg-laying, which is why the department pairs distribution with demonstration rather than simply handing over a packet.

Both are living material with a shelf life. That is the practical reason the department's distribution is described as "subject to availability of materials", a laboratory batch cannot be stockpiled for a year.

Who is eligible for the scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a bonafide farmer of Meghalaya engaged in agriculture.
• You have cultivable land. The department's eligibility line is "bona fide farmers having cultivable land and engage in agriculture", and the selection line adds "having sufficient available cultivable land".
• You apply through the officer with jurisdiction over the area where you ordinarily reside, as the Citizen Charter requires for every scheme of the department.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not a bonafide farmer of the state, or you have no cultivable land at all.
• You are a trader, input dealer or nursery wanting bio-agents for resale. The free distribution exists for awareness and demonstration on farmers' own fields; input dealers are a separate client category in the department's Citizen Charter.
• You want chemical pesticide supplied free. This scheme head produces and distributes biological agents only.

There is no income ceiling, no age limit, no minimum landholding and no category reservation published for this scheme. Selection among eligible applicants is on a first come, first served basis subject to availability of materials.

What documents are required?

The Citizen Charter records that bonafide farmers may apply "in prescribed forms or in plain paper (if the prescribed form is not available)", and that prescribed forms can be downloaded from megagriculture.gov.in. For this scheme head the department's own instruction is plain paper.

How to apply for free bio-control agents

1. Describe the problem, not just the product. Naming the crop and the disease or pest; root rot in tomato, stem borer in maize: lets the block office match the right organism and the right release timing to your field.
2. Write a plain-paper application addressed to the District Agriculture Officer (DAO) of your district, giving your name, village, C&RD Block and the land you cultivate.
3. Submit it through the Agriculture Development Officer (ADO) of your C&RD Block or Agriculture Circle. Meghalaya has 39 CD Blocks and 16 Agriculture Circles. The department also accepts this application through the Sub-Divisional Agricultural Officer of your sub-division and through the District Training Officers at Tura and Shillong.
4. Ask for the entry number in the office receipt register. Because selection is first come, first served, that register entry fixes your place.
5. Collect the material when called, and ask the extension officer to show you the application method at the same time. Bio-agents applied at the wrong stage do nothing, and the department frames the whole exercise as demonstration.

There is no online application, no fee and no charge for the material under this scheme head.

How much is the benefit worth?

The published entitlement is free distribution of bio-control agents produced in the laboratory. The department has not published a per-farmer quantity ceiling, an annual limit or a unit cost table for this head, so what you receive depends on the laboratory's production for the season and on your block's share of it.

That is not evasion on the department's part; it reflects how a bio control unit works. Production is batch-based and perishable, and the department's own qualifier throughout is "subject to availability of materials". Ask the ADO what the block expects to receive this season before planning a release schedule.

How to check on your application

There is no online tracking, so status-checking is done in person:

1. Return to the ADO office with your register entry number and ask when the next batch is expected.
2. Escalate to the Sub-Divisional Agricultural Officer of your sub-division; Meghalaya has 11 agriculture sub-divisions.
3. Write to the District Agriculture Officer of your district, who holds the district allocation.
4. Approach the District Training Officer at Tura or Shillong, separately named under "whom to contact" for this scheme.

District offices are open 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM in summer and 10.00 AM to 4.30 PM in winter.

Common reasons a farmer does not receive material

• No batch available. The department's own qualifier is "subject to availability of materials", and living material cannot be held indefinitely. Reapply early in the next season rather than appealing.
• No land proof attached. Much of Meghalaya's land is held under community and clan tenure without a patta; a certificate from the village headman is the document block offices normally accept.
• Filed with the wrong wing. This is an agriculture scheme, so it goes to the Agriculture Development Officer. Horticulture applications go to the Horticulture Development Officer.
• Request too vague to act on. "Please give bio agent" gives the office nothing to work with; name the crop, the area and the problem.
• Wrong season. Trichogramma releases have to coincide with the pest's egg-laying. An application timed to the wrong month may be carried forward to the right one.

Related schemes worth applying for at the same visit

• Plant Protection including Integrated Pest Management — free bio-pesticides and IPM traps (fly, sticky, baffle and light traps), plus 50% subsidy on the sale of sprayers and plant protection equipment.
• Organic Manures; free village-level hands-on training on producing organic compost.
• Soil Testing Laboratory: free soil testing and a Soil Health Card, applied for through the ADO or directly to the Research Officer of the Soil Testing Laboratory at Shillong, Tura or Jowai.
• Seed Testing Laboratory, free seed testing for viability and purity, applied for through the ADO or directly to the Research Officer of the Seed Testing Laboratory.

All four are state plan heads of the same department and use the same plain-paper, first-come-first-served route.

Help and grievance redressal

• Director of Agriculture, Cleve Colony, Government Fruit Garden, Shillong 793003 to telephone (0364) 2222460, fax (0364) 2223228, email agri-meg@nic.in
• Agriculture Information Officer, Directorate of Agriculture: telephone (0364) 2229127, email aio-agri-meg@nic.in
• The Research Officer, District local Research Station and Laboratory; East Khasi Hills at Shillong, West Jaintia Hills at Jowai and West Garo Hills at Tura
• District Agricultural Officer of your district, in office hours
• Kisan Call Centre; toll free 1800-180-1551, 6.00 AM to 10.00 PM daily
• 1917 iTEAMS, dial 1917 free for agro-advisory on pests and diseases
• Online grievances. The state grievance portal at mii.nic.in

The Citizen Charter of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare states that grievances may be given in writing to the concerned District Agricultural Officer during office hours or directly to the Director of Agriculture at the Shillong headquarters.