Ludhiana, Aug 8 2024 (Yes Punjab News)
Ms Himani, a Ph.D. student of the Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), has brought laurels to the university by securing the highly esteemed Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) Fellowship sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
This fellowship has been awarded to her for a period of five years for her Ph.D. programme.
Ms Himani is pursuing Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr Vikas Jindal, Principal Entomologist. She will be working on pink bollworm, one of the important pests of cotton.
She will characterize a novel gene ‘ecdysis triggering hormone receptor’ in pink bollworm and study its function.
Dr Jindal said the outcome of this study will provide the basic information about the function of ETHr gene in moulting in insect.
The ETH neuropeptide will be identified which activates the receptors which may be used to develop next generation insecticides against pink bollworm, he added.
Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, PAU; Dr MIS Gill, Dean of Postgraduate Studies; and Dr Charanjit Singh Aulakh, Dean, College of Agriculture, congratulated the student for her achievement.
Lauding the PAU student for bagging this fellowship, Dr Manmeet Brar Bhullar, Head of the Department, observed that due to the development of resistance in Bt cotton against pink bollworm under North Indian conditions, it has created a havoc among the farmer community.
Therefore, new research ideas for developing environment friendly strategies for pest management must be explored, she stressed.
