Role of Plant Quarantine in Preventing Entry of Exotic Pests

Abstract

Plant quarantine is a government endeavour enforced through legislative measures to regulate the introduction of
planting material, plant products, soil and living organisms, etc. in order to prevent inadvertent introduction of
pests (including fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, insects and weeds) harmful to the agriculture of a country/
state/region, and if introduced, prevent their establishment and further spread. ICAR-National Bureau of Plant
Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBPGR) is authorized to issue import permit and undertake quarantine of plant
germplasm including transgenics and for issue of Phytosanitary Certifi cate for material under export. Adopting
a systematic workable strategy, using a combination of conventional and modern techniques, over the past fortyfi
ve years, a total of 78 exotic pests including fungi (6), viruses (19), insects/ mites (26), nematodes (9) and
weeds (18) of great quarantine signifi cance to India have been intercepted. All eff orts are made to salvage the
infested/ infected materials; however, if the material is unsalvageable, it was incinerated.