A growing crisis in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ agriculture sector has prompted a sharp intervention by the local Member of Parliament, who has written to the Prime Minister, Union Ministers and the Lt. Governor alleging gross negligence by the administration and agricultural agencies. The MP’s letter points to widespread infestation of Rugose Spiraling Whitefly and Mealybug, devastating coconut, arecanut, banana and other crops across the Islands, and warns that farmers’ livelihoods are collapsing due to inaction.
The representation, dated September 27, 2025, alleges administrative failure by the Union Territory’s Agriculture Department and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) unit in the Islands. According to the MP, repeated warnings and field inspections have not resulted in any effective preventive measures, leaving farmers to suffer mounting losses.
The letter cites evidence from across North and Middle Andaman, Swaraj Dweep, Shaheed Dweep, Little Andaman, Campbell Bay and several rural blocks, where farmers have long depended on plantations of coconut, arecanut, bananas and fruits as their primary livelihood. In the Nicobar group of islands, where tribal communities rely almost entirely on farming of coconut and banana for subsistence, the infestation is described as a direct threat to both income and food security.
The MP argued that the central government’s vision of doubling farmers’ income has collapsed in the Islands, where productivity has plunged. Coconut water yields, once over a litre per nut, are reported to have fallen to half. In Little Andaman, arecanut production is said to have dropped from around 10 tonnes per farmer annually to only 300-400 kg. Traditional large-sized local bananas, once abundant, have nearly disappeared, with tissue culture plants imported from the mainland proving unsuitable.
Farmers and panchayat leaders had reportedly raised alarms as early as 2024, during field visits in Car Nicobar and Beodnabad, and in District Planning Committee meetings. Yet, according to the MP, officials did not escalate the matter or bring in scientific support from the mainland. The infestation, allegedly spread by imported plant varieties brought without proper quarantine checks, has since devastated plantations across the Islands.
The letter describes the Agriculture Department as being run by non-technical officers without agricultural backgrounds, while ICAR scientists continue to draw salaries without tangible achievements. It claims that despite repeated demands for preventive spraying using drones or modern scientific methods, no measures were taken. Requests from local panchayats, including the Pramukh of Little Andaman, for field visits by senior officials also went unheeded.
The MP has urged the Centre to depute a high-level expert scientific team from mainland India to study conditions across all islands, interact with farmers and recommend immediate control measures. He has also sought accountability from Agriculture Department officials and ICAR scientists for what he described as deliberate negligence.
Compensation for farmers and tribal communities has been demanded, with the MP arguing that the crisis stems from administrative lapses and should not be left to existing schemes. He has further suggested sending groups of farmers, including tribal cultivators, on exposure visits and training programmes in mainland India to equip them with knowledge of modern farming practices.
The letter emphasises that farmers in the Islands have been the backbone of food security for over six decades, sustaining families through plantations and seasonal crops. With the tourism sector creating additional demand for fruits and plantations, the collapse of local production is seen as a major setback not just for livelihoods but also for economic stability.
By linking the crisis to negligence, the MP has framed the issue as one of governance failure rather than natural misfortune. The appeal calls for urgent scientific intervention, administrative accountability and compensation to save farmers from debt and collapse, and to align with the national vision of empowering cultivators.
