CHITRAL: Farming communities in Bumburate, Lower Chitral, are receiving training in climate-smart pest management to help protect crops, improve farm practices and strengthen rural livelihoods.
The Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) conducted a Climate-Smart Integrated Pest Management (IPM) training for 25 farmers, including 14 women and 11 men, under the PEACE-II Project funded by the European Union in Pakistan.
The training was delivered by a Senior Research Officer from the Agriculture Research Station (ARS) Chitral. It combined classroom learning with practical field demonstrations on pest identification, early detection, sustainable pest management and safe pesticide use.
Farmers were also trained in managing maize rust disease and protecting apple and peach orchards through climate-smart approaches.
Integrated Pest Management can help farmers reduce unnecessary pesticide use while protecting crops, soil and surrounding ecosystems. Early identification of pests and diseases can also help reduce crop losses and protect household incomes.
The training is helping local farmers adopt safer, more sustainable and environmentally responsible agricultural practices while strengthening their capacity to respond to changing climatic conditions.
Building farmers’ knowledge and skills is an important part of developing resilient agricultural communities in climate-sensitive mountain areas such as Chitral.
