COIMBATORE: The Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated an Insect Museum, a first-of-its-kind to be established in the country, at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) on Monday.
After the inauguration, he expressed hope that the museum would serve students and farmers to know about good and bad (pest) kinds of insects to agriculture. He asked students of TNAU and other institutions to make effective use of the museum. He wanted the facility to enthuse and motivate general public, students, research scholars and farmers about the subject.
Reminiscing his farmer days, the Chief Minister took in the exhibits along with Agricultural Minister R Duraikannu and Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development SP Velumani.
“Basically, I was a farmer. I know about good and bad type of insects to agriculture. Some insects cause crop loses. They attack the stem of crop and eventually the crop is ruined,” he said, adding that being a farmer led him to come and visit the museum during its opening.
In his address, he spoke about the State government’s initiative of setting up advanced microbiological research lab at a cost of `6 crore.The museum has been established with the help of the State government’s fund of `5 crore and is spread over an area of 6,691 square feet at Department of Agricultural Entomology of TNAU. It has on display 84,000 insects as preserved specimens, live specimens with different developmental stages of the insects, images, videos and models on their unique behaviour, habits and habitats.
The museum lobby has the theme “Bugs are Kings” embroidered and also hosts remains of a tree. The exhibit area comprises seven radial walls on the right and an undivided wall on the left. The radial wall displays five themes — insect diversity, insect biology, beneficial insects, insect and plants, cultural entomology with four thematic charts. The left wall houses curated specimens of 27 insect orders. There is also a butterfly dome with live plants and a fountain.The museum has an electronic ticketing facility. However, TNAU management said that the opening and closing time of the museum and entry fare would be announced later.