Bhubneshwar: The continuing attack by swarms of desert locusts has come across as a huge nightmare for farmers who are already bearing the brunt of COVID-19 and lockdown. Now in a pre-emptive exercise, the Odisha government has laid out certain guidelines to protect the vulnerable farmers and shield their crops against the locusts.

The Directorate of Extension Education of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) has issued an advisory to farmers asking them to take precautionary measures in view of the attack of desert locusts that have already wreaked havoc on crops and vegetation in several states including Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab.

As per the control strategy, farmers were asked to spray NSKE solution (5 per cent of NSKE concentrate in 200 liters of water per acre) on crops and vegetation after sunset as a precaution against locust attack. Neem-based insecticides available in the market can be used for the purpose. The doses to be used are 300 ppm of insecticide per 200 liters of water.

On spotting locusts migration to their agriculture land, farmers were advised to beat utensils or use thorny bushes to drive away the flying insects. As locusts stop movement and settle on vegetation and trees after dusk, farmers were asked to shake the host trees with large polythene spread underneath and kill the fallen warms by drowning them in kerosene mixed water.

Desert locust are short-horned grasshoppers with highly migratory habits and voracious feeding behaviour. The pest is particularly characterised by its ability to breed rapidly and feed on any kind of vegetation.