Lok Sabha Question No. 3148 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-22
Subject: Fall Armyworm Menace
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Thirumaa Valavan Thol

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3148

TO BE ANSWERED ON  22 ND  MARCH 2022

## FALL ARMYWORM MENACE

## 3148. SHRI THIRUMAAVALAVAN THOL:

Will the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  Fall  Armyworm  menace  faced  by  Maize cultivators in the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has any plan to prefer biological control method rather than the harmful chemical pesticide method; and

(d) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE

## कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी ( SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a)  to  (b)  The  Fall  Armyworm  (Spodoptera  frugiperda)  is  a  polyphagous  migratory  pest species in the order of Lepidoptera. The pest was reported for the first time in India in May 2018.  The  Fall  Armyworm  (FAW)  infestation  in  maize  has  been  reported  from  Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram,  Sikkim,  Karnataka,  Telengana,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Tamil  Nadu,  Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir & Uttarakhand during the years 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 (up to Kharif 2021).

(c) Government of India is promoting use of bio-pesticides in Agriculture. The Registration Committee  (RC)  has  formulated  simplified  guidelines  for  registration  of  bio-pesticides  as compared to chemical pesticides. Provisional registration for bio-pesticides is being granted under Section 9(3b) of the Insecticides Act. The applicant is allowed to commercialize the bio-pesticide product during the provisional registration.

Integrated  Pest  Management  (IPM)  is  being  implemented  through  training  and demonstration  in  crops,  inter-alia  promotion  of  biological  control  approaches  in  crop protection  technology.  The  35  Central  Integrated  Pest  Management  Centers  (CIPMCs)  in different  States  and  UTs  popularize  the  IPM  through  Farmer  Field  Schools  and  HRD programs.  CIPMCs conduct  workshops,  group meetings,  trainings,  various  HRD  programs and  activities  to  promote  the  use  of  bio-control  agents,  bio-pesticides  among  the  farming community. Bio-control agents are mass multiplied in laboratories and released in farmer's fields,  which  reduce  pest  infestation  and  thus  avoid  crop  loss.  Farmers  are  also  trained  in farm production of bio-control agents, Entomo-pathogens and antagonistic fungi & bacteria to  reduce  the  dependency  on  chemical  pesticides.  Further,  farmers  are  made  aware  about conservation of natural enemies and mass multiplied bio-control agents are released in farmer fields for holistic management of pest & diseases.

Package of Practices (POP), posters related to preliminary identification at farm level, folders,  informative  bulletins  on  fall  armyworm  and control  measures to  be  taken up  were prepared and supplied to stakeholders in different regional languages.

(d) Does not arise.

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