18 September 2020, New Delhi: The Union Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar answered query related to “Damage of crops due to locust attack in india” in Rajya Sabha today.
During 2020-21, the locust incursions were reported in 10 States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Haryana and Uttarakhand, where operations were undertaken in coordination with State Governments for locust control. State Governments of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Bihar have reported no crop losses in their States.
Initially during May-June 2020, Government of Rajasthan reported crop damage of 33% and more due to locust attack in 2235 hectare area in Bikaner, 140 hectare in Hanumangarh and 1027 hectare area in Sri Ganganagar; but now, as per revised report, it has been stated that earlier submitted data was related to initial stage of crop sown in Kharif season and this area of crop loss has been re-sown by farmers.
State Governments of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have reported crop damage of less than 33% in 6520 ha, 4400 ha, 806 ha, 488 ha and 267 ha respectively due to locust attack this year.
For the financial year 2020-21, till now no State Government has reported distribution of relief to the farmers affected by locust attack for 2020-21. However, State Government of Rajasthan has informed that Girdawari/ survey work is underway for estimation of crop losses due to attack of locusts. The yield losses will be assessed through crop cutting experiments and compensation will be paid to all registered farmers as per provisions of Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana (PMFBY).
