Pakistan Emerges Breeding Ground Of Desert Locusts: Experts

Pakistan, according to experts, has emerged as the new breeding ground of desert locusts which are wreaking havoc in many states of India, media reports said. The Hindustan Times cited an ANI report in which a senior official of the Agriculture Department as saying that the locust swarm entering India has its breeding ground in Iran, Baluchistan and Pakistan.

The locust attack which India is currently experiencing in several states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and India threatens to cause widespread damage in these regions. The saving grace is that Rabi crop has been harvested to a large extent while the Kharif sowing season has not yet commenced.

The desert locust swarm which is now entering India through Pakistan is reported to be breeding in Balochistan, Iran and Pakistan. The large locust swarm entered Rajasthan from Pakistan in April and moved to other states including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, with Rajasthan currently reported to be the worst-hit state.

Locusts on an average consume food in proportion to their own weight per day and can travel up to a distance of 150 km in a day depending upon wind speed. Anything green is food for a locust swarm including leaves, fruits, flowers, stems, bark and seeds. All kinds of crops including rice, millets, sugar cane, maize, sorghum, barley, cotton, vegetables, rangeland grasses, occasion, banana and pines are food for locust swarms.

Locust control teams in Rajasthan are trying to check the menace which has come on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic which is sweeping through the country currently.