Swarms Of Locusts Destroy Crops In Many States

In what is this being described as the worst attack by locusts in 27 years, huge destruction was wreaked by locust swarms in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Swarms of the desert locust which invaded India through Pakistan last month, caused havoc in at least five states destroying crops at will, media reports stated.

Millions of locusts moving in swarms settled on large areas eating up crops causing untold destruction. Seen as the most destructive pest which moves in a migratory fashion, the desert locust moves in large swarms of millions of locusts extending over kilometres.

Gujarat experienced a severe attack by the desert locusts in December 2019 when large swarms destroyed crops spread over 25,000 hectares of land. This time however, reports state that the attack is far more extensive and that the crop destruction is very widespread in all the five states.

Locust swarms entered Pakistan from Iran and then made their way into Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Farmers in Punjab have also been placed on a state of alert.

Rajasthan is said to be facing the worst ever attack by locust swarms in many years. The state's western belt comprising the districts of Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner and Barmer districts have reported widespread destruction by locusts.

The Gujarat government has set up control rooms in areas affected by locusts and is also training staff to manage and minimise the destruction caused by locusts through medicines and sprayers.

In Uttar Pradesh swarms of locusts were seen in Agra, Jhansi and Gautam Budh Nagar. The Uttar Pradesh administration is gearing itself for an attack on crops by locusts in several districts of the state including Jhansi, Agra, Hathras, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Mathura, Firozabad, Etah, Kanpur, Lalitpur, Jalaun and Farrukhabad, among others.