ICAR- National Organic Farming Research Institute (NOFRI), Tadong in collaboration with  Department of Botany, Nar Bahadur Bhandari (NBB) Degree College, Tadong organized one day workshop for “Orientation on  assembly   of   Foldscope   and   its  utilization   as  a tool for identification of  plant  pathogen  and  its effect  on   host” for the third semester students of botany on 25 ^th September, 2018.

Dr. Chandramani Raj, Scientist (Plant Pathology) and Dr. Shweta Singh, Scientist (Plant Pathology) from ICAR-NOFRI, Tadong and Dr. Lhanjey P. Wangdi, Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, NBB Degree College, Tadong are working individually on this Foldscope through projects sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India. To democratize this science, the three scientists organized a workshop for 33 botany students of the degree college.

During the programme, Dr. Shweta Singh (Scientist, Plant Pathology) welcomed the students and faculty from NBB Degree College and scientists of ICAR-NOFRI for the workshop. She briefly presented the audience about the foldscope, its benefits and application in identification of plant pathogens.

During workshop, college students assembled the foldscope paper to microscope under the guidance of Dr. Chandramani, Dr. Shweta, Dr. Chandan, Dr. Sudip and Dr. Lhanjey Bhutia. They also prepared slides of various pathogen infected samples, cultures of pathogen and biocontrol agents and viewed under the foldscope. The students had a very interactive session with the scientists on different aspects of plant pathogens and their features.