About 30 to 35% of the annual crop yield in the country gets wasted because of pests, said P.K. Chakrabarty, Assistant Director General of Plant Protection and Biosafety of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
Speaking at the annual group meeting of All India Co-ordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Nematodes in Cropping Systems on Friday, he said that among such pests, nematodes have recently emerged as a major threat to crops and it causes loss of 60 million tonnes of crops annually.
“Nematodes consisting of roundworms, threadworms and eelworms are causing a loss of crops to the tune of almost 60 million tonnes or 10-12 % of crop production every year,” said Mr. Chakrabarty.
Elaborating on the “emergent problem” of nematodes, Mr. Chakrabarty said according to research conducted by the AICRP, the annual loss in 24 major crops, due to nematodes, was Rs.21,068 million. “The farmers are still not fully aware about these potential crop-destroyers,” he added.
