A large swarm of locusts from Africa is headed towards Gujarat. According to the Jamnagar District Collector, the swarm may affect the Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka and Porbandar districts, the westernmost coastal districts of the state.
“Large swarm of locusts is headed towards Gujarat from east African countries and in the coming days is likely to reach Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka and Porbandar districts. The farmers in these regions have been warned of the threat,” said Rakesh Shankar, Jamnagar District Collector.
“We have requested farmers to immediately inform the local authorities any sighting of locusts. The administration is preparing to tackle the looming danger,” said Shankar.
Till now, locusts have been cited in 62 villages of 17 blocks in 10 districts in Gujarat. The first sighting was on May 8 in the Banaskantha district. The other districts are Patan, Kutch, Morbi, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Amreli and Mehsana.
The locusts were spotted scattered in around 346 hectares. The administration has sprayed pesticides in around 122 hectares of this. According to the Agriculture Department, these Locusts are of local variety and don’t cause big damage to the crops.
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#LocustAttack locust attack in jaipur ?? pray for india friends ?? pic.twitter.com/H3j1Ja3oTt
— dolly ? (@dollybiblio) May 25, 2020
But the migratory locusts could be of different variety. Right now, large swarms of locusts are active in eastern African countries and have devastated crops, like wheat, maize and sorghum.
Earlier a month ago, desert locusts were spotted in the neighbouring Rajasthan in April.
A large swarm of locusts from Africa is headed towards Gujarat. According to the Jamnagar District Collector, the swarm may affect the Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka and Porbandar districts, the westernmost coastal districts of the state.
“Large swarm of locusts is headed towards Gujarat from east African countries and in the coming days is likely to reach Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka and Porbandar districts. The farmers in these regions have been warned of the threat,” said Rakesh Shankar, Jamnagar District Collector.
“We have requested farmers to immediately inform the local authorities any sighting of locusts. The administration is preparing to tackle the looming danger,” said Shankar.
Till now, locusts have been cited in 62 villages of 17 blocks in 10 districts in Gujarat. The first sighting was on May 8 in the Banaskantha district. The other districts are Patan, Kutch, Morbi, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Amreli and Mehsana.
The locusts were spotted scattered in around 346 hectares. The administration has sprayed pesticides in around 122 hectares of this. According to the Agriculture Department, these Locusts are of local variety and don’t cause big damage to the crops.
But the migratory locusts could be of different variety. Right now, large swarms of locusts are active in eastern African countries and have devastated crops, like wheat, maize and sorghum.
Earlier a month ago, desert locusts were spotted in the neighbouring Rajasthan in April.
) It is for the first time that drones and planes will be used to fight the locust attack in Rajasthan, said B.R. Karwa, project director, Agricultural Technology Management Agency, here on Monday.
The locusts have changed their attack strategy this season and are flying at great height against their basic nature to fly in the low lying areas. Hence, Union minister for agriculture Kailash Chowdhary has requested the DGCA to help the government with planes which can fight the locust menace from a height by spraying pesticides, he informed.
Also, the Rajasthan government is considering tenders so that drones can be used in countering the locust menace, he said.
On Monday morning, the residents of Jaipur woke up to a sudden attack by a swarm of locusts which invaded many parts of the city. The attack was not limited to one colony but was seen in many areas of the city which left the residents surprised.
Officials said that it is for the first time that locusts have invaded residential areas of the city in the summer months.
Karwa said that the locusts entered Jaipur in the winter of 1993 and it is after three decades, that they have attacked the city in summer.
When asked if there has been any crop loss with the locusts attacking crops this season, he said “As there are no standing crops in the fields, there is no loss in this season. However, we are adopting newer measures to check any loss in the coming seasons.”
Meanwhile, officials of the agriculture department have blamed the neighbouring nation Pakistan alleging that it is preferring to sit idly by instead of taking any action to control the locusts as these insects have made the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan their breeding centres.
Earlier, the breeding centres of locusts were African nations and hence they used to take time to reach India. However, now with the Pak-Afghan border becoming their breeding centre, they are entering Rajasthan from Pakistan.