Lok Sabha Question No. 4270 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-19
Subject: Technical assistance for Pest control
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Kuldeep Indora

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4270

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 19 TH  AUGUST, 2025

## TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR PEST CONTROL

4270.  SHRI KULDEEP INDORA:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण मंğी

be pleased to state:

(a) whether  due  to  disasters  like  climate  change,  heat,  heatwave  and  locusts,  the infestation  of  pests  and  incidence  of  diseases  in  crops  like  cotton  and  Moong  have increased to 33% or more causing huge economic loss to the farmers; (b) if  so,  whether the  Government is formulating any scheme to give compensation to the farmers under disaster relief assistance in such cases as per SMFR norms; (c) whether the Central Government has fixed any guidelines in this regard so that the State Government becomes bound to provide relief to the farmers; (d) whether the Government is providing any special scheme or technical assistance for the control of pests like pink bollworm; and (e)

- whether  the  Government  is  contemplating  to  provide  compensation  and  relief assistance to the farmers by declaring such affected areas as notified disaster areas?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण राÏय मंğी (SHRI  RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a) to (e): There is no specific data indicating that due to disasters like climate change, heat, heatwave and locusts, the infestation of pests and incidence of diseases in crops like cotton  and  Moong  have  increased  to  33%  or  more  causing  huge  economic  loss  to  the farmers. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is implementing a project namely National  Innovations  in  Climate  Resilient  Agriculture  (NICRA)  that  studies  the  impact  of climate  change on agriculture  including crops,  livestock, horticulture  and  fisheries. It also develops  and  promotes  climate  resilient  technologies  which  helps  the  regions  prone  to extreme weather conditions like droughts, floods, frost, heat waves, etc. to cope with such extremes. Incidence of diseases in crops in relation to climate change under field conditions are being addressed through database development on insect pests, diseases and weather for important crops across 12 agro-climatic zones under NICRA.

The  financial  assistance  under  State  Disaster  Response  Fund  (SDRF)/National Disaster  Response  Fund  (NDRF)  is  provided  in  the  wake  of  notified  natural  calamities. Additionally  for  risk  mitigation  for  crop  loss  due  to  various  reasons  government  is implementing  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY)  to  protect  the  farmers  from climate  hazards,  Government has  introduced  flagship  yield  based  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) along with weather index based Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) from Kharif 2016.  The scheme aims to support sustainable production  in  the  agriculture  sector  by  providing  financial  assistance  to  farmers  suffering crop loss or damage due to unforeseen natural calamities and adverse weather conditions. It  seeks  to  stabilize  farmers'  incomes  and  ensure  their continued  participation in  farming. Comprehensive risk insurance is provided to farmers under the scheme against unavoidable natural calamities such as drought, dry spells, floods, hailstorms, inundation, etc., covering the entire crop cycle from pre-sowing to post-harvest losses. As of 30th June 2025,  during  the  period  from  2020-21  to  2024-25,  the  total  farmers'  share  in  premiums amounted to ₹18,175.0 crore. Claims paid stood at ₹86,755.8 crore, benefitting 14,63,73,629 farmer applications. In addition, the project "Dissemination of Pink Bollworm Management  Strategies"  has  been  implemented  by  ICAR-CICR,  Nagpur  since  2018-19 under  the  National  Food  Security  and  Nutrition  Mission  (NFSNM)  (formerly  NFSM).  The objective of the project is to disseminate integrated Pink Bollworm management strategies during  different  growth  stages  of  the  cotton  crop,  to  effectively  combat  Pink  Bollworm infestation in cotton.

Additionally ICAR- Central Institute for Cotton Research (ICAR-CICR) has developed pheromone traps for reducing pest levels, where infested.

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