A daylong workshop for farmers to attest the utility of a ‘paper microscope’ in advocating management practices against microscopic pests in organic farming was conducted by ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resource, Bengaluru in association with ICAR Complex for NEH Region, Barapani at Mynsain village in Ri Bhoi District of Meghalaya in December 2018.

Around 35 tribal farmers, who generally practice organic farming of field and horticultural crops on their smallholdings, participated in the workshop. The programme started with field observation on pest incidence and their sample collection. Later the farmers were exposed to handle the paper microscope with special emphasis on its utility in observation of harmful and beneficial microscopic pests like aphids, thrips, trichograma and mites.