With reports of extensive damage caused by pink bollworms to cotton and some other crops in Sriganganagar district and adjoining areas, the agriculture department has issued orders to form a technical team of agricultural entomologists and agriculture officers that would conduct surveys and review the reasons for the increase in incidence of pink bollworms this year.

Not just cotton, farmers have also reported damages to crops of cluster beans and grains due to the pink bollworm pest that is known as "gulabi sundi".

Officials of the agriculture department said that this year BT Cotton was sown in 2,29,094 hectares, grains in 87,655 hectares and cluster beans in 2,19,081 hectares.

Under the Union government's crop insurance scheme, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, 5,694 crop harvesting experiments are to be conducted by primary workers of the revenue and agriculture departments to assess the damage caused to the kharif crops due to rain. In this regard, instructions have been issued to conduct the crop harvesting experiment only in presence of the insurance company representative and the farmer. Officials said 7,000 reports have been registered by farmers in Sriganganagar district, out of which survey of about 407 has been completed.

We also published the following articles recently

Farmers to get central aid for crops damaged due to rain

The agricultural department in Jaipur has requested insurance companies to conduct surveys of crops damaged by recent rainfall. The state government aims to ensure compensation for farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana scheme. Farmers must approach insurance companies within 72 hours of the damage to avail compensation. The agriculture minister has acknowledged the possibility of damage to Kharif crops due to untimely rains and emphasized the availability of insurance cover under the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme. The agriculture commissioner has instructed immediate surveys of crop damage.

The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) held protests across several states, demanding fair compensation for crop damage caused by floods in July and August. The farmers are seeking compensation for crop loss, damage to houses, and loss of livestock. Meanwhile, the agricultural department in Jaipur has asked insurance companies to assess crop damage caused by recent rainfall so that farmers can receive compensation. Tamil Nad Chief Minister M K Stalin has also announced a compensation of Rs 560 crore for six lakh affected farmers. In contrast, the state farm department in Indore claims there has been no crop damage despite excessive rainfall.

Tamil Nad Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced compensation of Rs 560

crore for six lakh farmers affected by natural disasters under the crop insurance scheme. The scheme covers 14 clusters in 37 districts, with 24.45 lakh acres insured by 11.2 lakh farmers. Additionally, Rs 181.4 crore was recently released as compensation for farmers affected by poor rainfall in several districts. The Madras High Court has also asked the central and state governments to respond to a plea demanding the extension of the crop insurance scheme in Tamil Nad for the entire year.

Source - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com