In a piece of threatening news for India’s food security, a swarm of crop-eating pests, locusts, have now begun to enter the North Indian states of UP, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab after reportedly wreaking havoc in Pakistan and Iran.
Earlier, Madhya Pradesh has seen the biggest attack of Locust in the last 27 years and so has Rajasthan. As per a report by Times Of India, Locusts have now begun to enter UP and are likely to grow till monsoon season.
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The governments of the states are issuing advisories for the farmers decoding how they can try to control the pest attack. They have been asked to make loud sounds through drums, banging of utensils and shouting to keep them at bay.
Four teams of the Central Government and state agricultural development are fighting the locusts by spraying chemicals. Reports say that India has also proposed to send chemical sprays to Pakistan and Iran to help fight the spread.
Experts say that if not controlled, the swarms can eat and destroy the Moong crop worth Rs 8,000 crore. Also, fruits and vegetable nurseries are also at high risk of damage. They said if the insects are not controlled and travel to long distances, cotton and chilly crops worth several thousand crores could also be damaged.
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Don’t know what more the world will have to face in 2020.
