Lok Sabha Question No. 865 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-07
Subject: Study on Crop Loss
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Naranbhai Bhikhabhai Kachhadiya

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 865

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 7 TH  FEBRUARY, 2023

## STUDY ON CROP LOSS

865. SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  study  of  the  crop  losses  due  to  adverse weather conditions and if so, the details thereof for the last five years;

(b)  whether  the  Government  has  undertaken  any  measures  to  reduce  crop  losses  due  to adverse weather conditions; and

(c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a)  to  (c):    The  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  under  the  Ministry  of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched a flagship network project 'National Innovations in  Climate  Resilient  Agriculture'  (NICRA)  during  2011.  NICRA  is the unique project  which brings all sectors of agriculture viz., crops, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, natural resource management and extension scientists on one platform. The major objectives of NICRA are (i) to undertake strategic and applied research on climate change adaptation and mitigation; (ii)  to  validate,  demonstrate  and  assess  the  impact  of  climate  resilient  technologies  on farmers'  fields; and  (iii) to  strengthen  the  capacity  of  scientists,  farmers  and  other stakeholders on climate resilient agriculture. About 57 ICAR Institutes, 16 State Agriculture Universities,  Indian  Institute  of  Technology  (Chennai)  &  NGOs  are  involved  in  strategic research.  The  state  of  art  research  infrastructure  was  developed  like  high-throughput phenotyping platforms, free air temperature elevation systems in open fields, carbon dioxide temperature gradient chambers, environmental growth chambers with CO2 and temperature controls and special calorimetric system to study livestock response to heat stress.

Significant  achievements  of  the  project  include  studies  on  impact  of  elevated temperature  and  CO2  on  crops  (rice,  wheat,  maize  and  onion),  livestock,  fisheries,  soil carbon, pests and diseases using integrated simulation modeling framework. 1752 climate resilient crop varieties tolerant to abiotic stresses in different crops have been developed. 400  of  these  varieties  are  tolerant  to  abiotic  stresses  like  drought,  flood,  heat-wave  etc. Location specific GHG inventory for different cropping systems and production systems and quantified carbon sequestration potential through agro-forestry systems and major cropping systems have been established.  District  level  risk  and  vulnerability  assessment  of  Indian agriculture to climate change has been revised as per IPCC AR-5 guidelines and is widely used  by  policy  makers  and  research  managers  for  prioritization  of  resources  related  to climate  change  action  plans.  Agricultural  contingency  plans  are  ready  for  650  districts. Climate-induced  pest  and  disease  outbreaks  in  the  country  were  studied  in  9  crops  (10 insects and 29 diseases) to build pest and disease forewarning models. Web enabled and mobile apps for pest forewarning have been developed.

For every 1°C rise in temperature, yields of rice, wheat, soybean, mustard, groundnut and potato are expected to decline by 3-7%. Resilient technologies viz., changes in land use management,  development  of  multiple  stress  tolerant  varieties,  advancing  sowing  dates, adoption  of  short  duration  varieties  minimize  the  negative  impacts  of  heat  waves.  In addition,  strengthening  the  weather  forecasts  and  agro-advisory  services,  help  farmers  in taking informed decisions about the impending weather.

Location  specific  technologies,  developed  by  the  national  agricultural  research system, which can impart resilience against climatic vulnerability, are being demonstrated in 151  climatically  vulnerable  districts  by  taking  one  representative  village  in  each  district across  the  country.  Village  level  institutional  mechanisms  such  as,  Village  Level  Climate Risk  Management  Committees  (VCRMC),  custom  hiring  centers  etc.  are  established  for managing  infrastructure  created  and  to  improve  the  timeliness  of  operations  during  the limited window periods of moisture availability in rainfed areas and to promote small farm mechanization for adoption of climate resilient practices. These interventions helped farmers to reduce the yield losses and enhanced their adaptive capacity against climatic variability.

A  large-scale  capacity  building  program  on  climate  resilient  agriculture  is  being undertaken with the involvement of more than 1200 scientists, 874 research scholars and 160 doctoral and post graduate students across the country. These resilient practices are being adopted by communities and spreading beyond NICRA villages. In the last ten years, 16958 training programs have been conducted throughout the country under NICRA project to  educate  stakeholders  on  various  aspects  of  climate  change  and  resilient  technologies, covering 514816  stakeholders so as to enable wider adoption of climate resilient technologies and increase in yields.

The  Government  of  India  has  introduced  yield  based  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and weather based Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) from Kharif 2016 to provide financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage  arising  out  of  natural  calamities,  adverse  weather  incidence  and  to  stabilize income of farmers. Comprehensive risk insurance is provided under the scheme from preharvesting to post-harvest losses. Under this Scheme, claims are paid to only those farmers who have insured their crops and paid their share of premium under any of the notified crop insurance  scheme  in  the  notified  area/crop  by  the  State  Government.  Details  of  Farmers Applications insured, area insured, sum insured and claims paid during 2016-17 to 2020-21 are as under:

| Year    |   Farmers Applications Insured (in lakh) |   Area insured (in lakh hectares) |   Sum insured (Rs. in crore) |   Claims paid (Rs. in crore) |
|---------|------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|
| 2016-17 |                                    581.7 |                             564   |                       201799 |                      16795.5 |
| 2017-18 |                                    531.8 |                             507.3 |                       201966 |                      22065.5 |
| 2018-19 |                                    581.9 |                             532   |                       235740 |                      28666.6 |
| 2019-20 |                                    616.2 |                             508.4 |                       221561 |                      27359.7 |
| 2020-21 |                                    623.2 |                             495.4 |                       199672 |                      20391.7 |

The  State Government  is  primarily responsible for providing necessary  relief measures  in  the  wake  of  natural  calamities.  For  undertaking  relief  measures,  funds  are available  with  the  State  Government  in  the  form  of  the  State  Disaster  Response  Fund (SDRF).  Additional  financial  assistance,  over  and  above  SDRF,  is  considered  from  the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for natural calamities of a severe nature and is approved  on  the  basis  of  a  Memorandum  received  from  the  State  Government,  in accordance with established procedures. The financial assistance includes agriculture input subsidy as one of the components, which is computed for the affected area having crop loss of 33% & above.

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