New Delhi: Having travelled to India all the way from Pakistan during early April, 2020, the migratory pests known as Locusts that first entered Rajasthan, have now made their way to at least five states, leaving behind a huge trail of crop destruction.
At least four to five villages in eastern Maharashtra have come under attack from the locusts. The district and agriculture department personnel in the state have initiated chemical spraying on crops and vegetation to save them from these unwanted pests.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura, the district administration has formed a task force to deal with any potential locust attack in the district. The administration decided to go for early preparation keeping in view the growing locust threat. 200-litre Chloropyriphos has been kept as a reserve and its sellers in the area were advised not to supply the chemical outside the district. Authorities have put a dozen tractors mounted with sprayers on standby and fire brigade department has been asked to remain alert.
Gujarat has also been reeling under the locust problem for over five months now. The insects have wreaked havoc in several villages in Lodiya, Savarkundla, Khambha Jaffarabad and Botad of Amreli district in Gujarat. Before this, locusts caused havoc in Surendranagar and Bhavnagar districts of Gujarat.
The Union environment ministry had already warned in a statement last week that locust swarms have entered Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. While there is an alert for national capital Delhi, Rajasthan is the most affected state and as the swarm had entered the country through the state earlier than expected.
The locusts are known for feasting on all sorts of plants and standing crops. Desert locust move in large groups, called swarms, and can eat crops up to their own weight every day. When millions of locusts descend on a crop, they destroy everything.
"The desert locusts feed on any kind of green vegetation, including crops, pasture and fodder. A locust population spread across an area of one square kilometre can in a day ravage crop meant for over 35,000 people," according to UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation
Global problem
In February, the outbreak ravaged crop and pasture in the Greater Horn of Africa; damaging tens of thousands of hectares of cropland and pasture in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. This is the worst outbreak in over 25 years in Ethiopia and Somalia and the worst observed in over 70 years in Kenya, FAO reported.
Last year, Pakistan suffered its worst attack of locusts since 1993, for which the country was largely unprepared. The locusts arrived in Pakistan from Iran in June 2019, devouring cotton, wheat and maize, among other crops. The invasion was initially expected to subside by mid-November. But it has persisted due to favourable weather conditions for continued locust breeding, linked to global warming.