Photographer: Sanjay Kanojia / AFP via Getty Images
Photographer: Sanjay Kanojia / AFP via Getty Images
A new swarm of desert locusts has entered Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest sugarcane producer, through the capital city of Delhi and the northern state of Haryana, According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
Operations to control grasshoppers are in full swing in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra, the ministry said in a statement Saturday night. Tractors, fire trucks and drones are dedicated to spraying pesticides to kill them, he said.
A massive locust attack adds another challenge to the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is trying to stem the spread of the coronavirus and limit its impact on the economy. You cannot risk food crops being destroyed, as millions of people have been pushed into poverty after losing their lives due to the world’s strictest rules for staying home. While movement restrictions are being relaxed, India has become the fourth country with more than 500,000 infections.
Hoppers, which normally sit in trees at night and fly during the day, have been controlled in approximately 127,225 hectares (314,379 acres) of area across the country between April 11 and June 26, the ministry said . Farmers mainly grow rice, legumes, cotton, sugar cane and soybeans on approximately 106 million hectares during the monsoon season between June and September.
In January, the largest swarm of locusts that hit the western state of Gujarat in India for a quarter of a century resulted in the attack of more than 25,000 hectares of wheat, rape, cumin and potatoes, with at least a third of the crops damaged in 75% of the affected areas. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, around 403,488 hectares had to be treated with pesticides across the country after another invasion in 2019-20.
Desert locusts often attack North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, generally when heavy rains follow droughts. They generally enter the desert areas of India through Pakistan to reproduce during the four-month rainy season that begins in June. But, this year, swarms of pink adults were reported in April in Rajasthan and Punjab, according to the farm ministry.
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