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Since May 2019, the farmers of Rajasthan are under attack from locusts. After the May 2019attack, a fresh wave of locusts again attacked the state during the Rabi crop season and damaged 3.6 lakh hectares of kharif crop in 10 districts of western Rajasthan with Sriganganagar district hit the worst [1,2]. This year as well the locusts have made a comeback from Pakistan entering India on 11th April and affected 16 out of 33 districts of Rajasthan and left farmers in distress [3,4,5].

The elected government of Rajasthan is pretending to be helpless and running away from its responsibility to protect the crops from pests as per the Item No. 14 in the State List mentioned in the 7th Schedule of our Constitution. Even though the State government has experience of dealing with two locust attacks till now, the State government could have prepared itself well in advance to support the farmers in their fight against the locusts this year.

Under the Concurrent List of the 7th Schedule, it is the joint responsibility of the Union Government and the State Government to prevent the extension from one State to another of infectious or contagious diseases of pests affecting plants, but handling the locust attack within the state is the responsibility of the State Government only where there a lot for the government to do. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, while the farmers’ pockets are already stretched for their day to day needs of bread and butter, they are forced to choose between buying pesticides to protect their crops and buying food to feed their family. This is extremely saddening and must be distressing for the farmer. The poor helpless farmers towards the state government for assistance but all in vain.

The Chief Minister of Rajasthan must stand up for the farmers interest time and again. The farmers of the state have been single-handedly fighting one calamity after the other without substantial support from the government of Rajasthan. Following the locust attack in May 2019, the farmers of Rajasthan were hit by heavy rainfall with Rajasthan State receiving 46.1% more rainfall than the state average from 1st June 2019 to 30th September 2019 [6]. Certain districts were devastated by heavy rainfall receiving 100%-200% more than the average rainfall over a week or fortnight. The farmers have been helplessly shedding tears to save their crops from heavy rainfall and locusts attacks, but this government has not provided any notable aid but fake promises of farm loan waivers to the farmers. The then Congress ruled state of Madhya Pradesh and the incumbent Congress government in Rajasthan had not released their share of premiums for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. As of 20th March 2020, the pending amount for Rajasthan stood at Rs.1,482 crore and that for Madhya Pradesh stood at Rs. 2,731 crore. Such delays in payment of their premium share is evident of Congress Party’s apathy towards the woes of farmers [7].

The Union Government has constantly supported the efforts for locust control as per the responsibility bestowed upon the Union Government in the Concurrent List through the Locust Control Organization (LCO) headquartered in Jodhpur with 10 circle offices in Barmer, Jaiselmer, Bikaner, Palanpur, Nagaur, Jalore, Bhuj, Phalodi, Suratgarh and Churu. For Rajasthan, in the fight against the locusts, the centre can only play an advisory role which the Union Government has been playing very well through its LCO and the circle offices. The LCO has been mandated to monitor the Locust and conduct research on locusts and grasshoppers at Field Station for Investigations on Locusts (FSIL), Bikaner which they have been doing well, but the LCOs cannot and must not handhold the State government to counter the locusts [8].

However, the Union Government has ordered 60 sprayers from the UK to kill the swarms before they invade the kharif crop sown this year sown in June-July [9,10]. During this period of April – June 2020, the farmers are facing double-whammy from (i) economic impact due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown and (ii) impact due to crop loss from locusts attack. This could have done an irreparable damage to the mental health of the farmers as both of these crises are at an unprecedented scale. The State Government must step up to protect the farmers from locusts and provide appropriate waivers and compensation to the farmers affected and pacify their distress. According to the Census of 2011, 75.13% of Rajasthan’s population resides in villages for whom the main source of livelihood is agriculture.

The Congress Government must keep up with their promises of ‘Loan Waiver’ and stand shoulder to shoulder with our distressed farmers and compensate them for the damage and prepare itself to handle locusts attacks better in the times to come. Under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the Union government under leadership of Shri Narendra Modi has undertaken several significant reforms such the Agriculture Marketing Reforms and Amendments to Essential Commodities Act to name a few. The Union government has also set up Agri-Infrastructure fund of Rs. 1 trillion and also made credit available to farmers at concessional rates [11].

Moreover, we need to understand that the locusts attacking our crops are not bred in India and we have little control over the breeding grounds and the breeding ecosystem. The main cause of favourable breeding ground for locusts in the horn of Africa is the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) which caused heavy rainfalls in dry arid regions of Africa. In the times to come, the fluctuation in temperature of the ocean surface due to the IOD is bound to increase [12,13]. The government can only be prepared well in advance but cannot do away with locusts permanently as the locusts aren’t bred on Indian soil. The Union Government must explore the option of collaborating with the economically lesser developed countries in their fight against locusts in their breeding centres in Africa, thereby cutting out the locusts at its source.

References:-

1. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/3-6l-hectares-hit-in-rajasthans-wor

st-locust-attack-in-60-years/articleshow/73343726.cms

2. https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/jan/22/locust-swarms-from-

pakistan-devastate-36-lakh-hectares-of-rabi-crop-in-rajasthan-2092680.html

3. https://www.hindustantimes.com/jaipur/new-swarm-of-locusts-invades-rajas

than-fifth-to-enter-state-in-4-days/story-1TfVuYww0ecNFlrYKjkLuI.html

4. https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/locust-attack-in-india/article3

1729025.ece

5. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-locusts-are-being-sighted-in

-urban-areas-what-it-can-mean-for-crops-6428703/

6. http://water.rajasthan.gov.in/content/dam/water/water-resources-department/

Rainfall/Monsoon/DailyRainfallBulletin/Fortnight%20Report.pdf.#Fortnight

lyReport

7. https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/mp-raj-yet-to-release-rs-4213-cr-s

hare-of-premium-for-farmers-under-crop-insurance/1774453

8. http://ppqs.gov.in/sites/default/files/an_overview_on_locust_control_amp_re

search.pdf

9. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-to-deploy-60-specialised-spr

ayers-from-uk-to-control-locust-first-batch-of-15-to-arrive-by-june-11/articl

eshow/76062062.cms

10.https://www.newschrome.com/locust-attack-india-to-procure-60-sprayers-fr

om-uk-drones-to-be-deployed-to-spray-pesticide/

11.https://www.prsindia.org/report-summaries/summary-announcements-aatma

-nirbhar-bharat-abhiyaan

12.https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/nov/19/global-heati

ng-supercharging-indian-ocean-dipole-climate-system

13. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50602971