The Parliamentary committee will meet for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak in March, to discuss the impact of locust attack on the farming sector and the need for a national policy to deal with it. The committee will also do a stock-taking on the steps taken to deal with the locust attack.
The locust attack has impacted the rural areas in the country for the past four months. This has further led to a demand for national policy to control it.
According to livemint, a Parliamentarian who is part of the committee said that the issue requires an overall National Policy because it cannot be resolved at the state level. They are of the view that greater scientific research on means to control the menace and also that the farmers get compensation if their crops are affected.
The problem has scaled up a lot because more than 3.5 lakh hectares area of crops were destroyed over at least nine states including the more affected ones of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana as well as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. The trans-boundary locust swarms are currently threatening to impact Kharif crop season in rural areas.
A senior lawmaker said during a media interaction that the current issue is very significant and threatens to impact not just the current harvest but also the overall ecosystem. In that sense, it goes beyond just being a farmers’ issue. At the meeting, they are hopeful of discussing issues related to it and hear out what officials have to say and assess the current situation.
Livemint reports that the 30-member committee on agriculture will be given representations by officials from the department of agriculture on cooperation and farmers welfare detailing steps taken to control the spread of locusts in the country. The apex Locust Warning Organisation (LWO), headquartered in Faridabad, falls under this department and works for the protection of standing crops and other green vegetation from the ravages of desert locusts.
