India is one of the 17 mega-diverse countries, comprising the diverse ecological habitats such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems and desert ecosystems, a senior research scientist in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) said on Thursday.

Inaugurating a 21-day advanced faculty training on ‘Innovative Approaches and Methods in Insect Biodiversity Conservation’ at the University, Director of Research Dr. M. Maheswaran said India is having nearly 89,500 species, of which insect alone accounted for 59,350 species.

The training is organised by Department of Agricultural Entomology, Centre for Plant Protection Studies, TNAU in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Fifteen agricultural scientists from various State Agricultural Universities and national Institutes under ICAR, representing 11 States and a Union Territory are participating in the programme.