Officials in three states are racing to control the desert locust swarms that have now spread to three states, adding to the logistical challenges of district officials at a time when containing the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has been the top-most priority.
Officials in three states are racing to control the desert locust swarms that have now spread to three states, adding to the logistical challenges of district officials at a time when containing the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has been the top-most priority.
State and federal agencies need to eliminate as much of these locusts as possible prior to the arrival of monsoon, the point when the swarms could go through another round of breeding and turn into a bigger threat, said the Locust Warning Organization under the Union agriculture ministry.
If we are not able to control the sub-adults (the swarms that are already in MP and Rajasthan) they will grow into adults come back to the summer breeding sites along the Indo-Pak border in the desert. If there is good rainfall, moisture will make it conducive for egg laying in sandy soil. We may have to face a second generation of desert locusts then. If they are not controlled in hopper stage, then they turn into swarms that will again pose a challenge for us, said KL Gurjar, deputy director, directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine and Storage, LWO.
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