'Central teams deputed to 5 states to assess crop damage due to heavy rains & floods'

New Delhi: Inter-ministerial central teams have been deputed to Assam, Meghalaya, Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat for assessment of crop damage due to recent heavy rains and floods, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar informed Parliament on Tuesday.

Tomar, in his written reply to the Lok Sabha, said six states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim -- have estimated 2,43,208 hectare damage to crop area due to floods as on July 12, this year.

"So far, in 2022-23 the Ministry of Home Affairs have constituted/deputed Inter Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat for assessment of damage on the ground," Tomar said.

An IMCT is constituted and deputed for an on-the-spot assessment of damage and requirement of funds for relief operations.

The report of the IMCT is considered by the Sub Committee of the National Executive Committee (SC-NEC). Thereafter, the High Level Committee (HLC) approves the final quantum of financial assistance, he added.

Asked if the Centre plans to waive farmers loan in affected districts, the minister said, "No" and added his ministry, however, is implementing 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana' since Kharif 2016, along with 'Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme' to provide comprehensive risk cover in the event of crop damage due to natural calamities and preventable risks, and provide financial support to the insured farmers against their notified insurance coverage.

However, these insurance schemes are voluntary in nature, he added.

On measures taken to change cropping pattern to help mitigate climate changes, the minister said the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) as an alternative to the traditional transplanting method and it has been demonstrated on a large scale in the farmers' fields.

In addition, horticulture, oilseeds, maize etc. are being promoted as crop diversification measures. ICAR has also identified alternate and efficient cropping systems for crop diversification across different agro-climatic conditions in order to overcome the impact of climate change.

Further, the agriculture ministry is implementing the Crop Diversification Programme (CDP) in the Original Green Revolution States i.e. Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh (western part) since 2013-14 to divert the area of a water-intensive paddy crop to alternative crops like pulses, oilseeds, coarse cereals, nutri-cereals and cotton, he added.

Agriculture minister Tomar also said that certain posts of agricultural scientists are vacant in the country's premier research body ICAR.

"Yes, certain number of posts of agricultural scientists are vacant in scientific cadre in Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)," Tomar said in his written reply to the Lok Sabha.

The recruitment to scientific positions is a continuous process and vacancies are filled up through established procedure by the Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board subject to the availability of qualified candidates, he said.

The vacancy position is monitored regularly within ICAR and with ASRB for timely selection and deployment of human resource, he added.