Pests, weeds, diseases take a toll on produce, says agriculture minister. The country is losing agricultural production worth Rs 1.48 lakh crore annually due to damage from pests, weeds and plant diseases, according to the Crop Care Foundation of India (CCFI). This reckoning is based on Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's statement in the Rajya Shabha indicating that around 10-30 per cent of the farm produce was lost every year due to pests, weeds and diseases.