Swarms of Locusts have made their way to India via Pakistan in April this year. Normally, they enter the schedule dessert area of India every year with the arrival of monsoon in the month of June and July for breeding purpose but this year their first presence has reported in the month of April. Desert Locusts are Crops destroying insects who belong to the family of grasshoppers. They are known to be the most dangerous of all migratory pests in the world. They move in swarms of millions and have the ability to do massive damage to crops and vegetation.
On May 20, swarms of Locusts were traced in the Dausa district of Rajasthan. They have reached Dausa from the Ajmer district of Rajasthan after travelling 200 km. Rajasthan has been the most affected state with the presence of Locusts in 16 out of 33 states. The state’s Kharif crop is a big risk. On Monday, Swarm of Locusts entered the residential area of Jaipur.
The administration in UP, Mathura has decided to go for early preparation keeping in mind the threat of growing locust.
Magistrate of Maharashtra said they have kept 200 litres chlorpyrifos and sale of the chemical have forbidden outside the district. In UP, 17 districts feared to be affected by locust are- Agra, Aligarh, Hathras, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Auriya, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mathura, Bulandshahr, Auraiya, Jalaun, Mainpuri, Jhansi, Mahoba, Kanpur and Lalitpur.
In Madhya Pradesh, Locust has made his way in 17 districts, It first entered in Mandsaur and Neemuch on May 17 and then travelling to 10 more districts. Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Shajapur, Indore, Dewas, Khargone, Morena, and Sheopur being the most affected areas. Also, experts have warned if Swarms aren’t controlled before time, they can destroy moong cereal crop of worth Rs 8,000 crores. Locusts can fly up to 150 km a day and a one square km swarm can eat as much food as of 35,000 people in a day.
