PUNE: Under the Crop Pest Surveillance and Advisory Project (CROPSAP) that has been running with the objective of managing bug infestations that occur on crops like soybean, cotton, rice and tur, the State government has allocated funds of Rs 26.47 crore of which Rs 16.97 crore is to be disbursed immediately for the management of pink bollworm that has damaged a large area of the cotton crop currently.

Issuing a resolution (GR), the government has said that under the CROPSAP, funds of Rs 41.47 crore were allocated, of which, for the management of pink bollworm for 2018-19, the total funds allocated for the management of the infestation was at Rs 26.4 crore. The GR issued by the state on Saturday, mentions that Rs 16.97 crore worth of funds are to be immediately mobilised for the management of the pink bug.

The GR also discusses that the other programme run on the same lines of that of the CROPSAP, the Horticultural Pest Surveillance and Advisory Project (HORTSAP) will be merged with the former rather than running the programme separately. The total funds allocated will be applicable to both the foodgrain and consumer crop and horticultural crop as well.