Locust attack rings alarm bells in UP

LUCKNOW: A locust outbreak in neighbouring Rajasthan’s Ajmer district has rung alarm bell for the sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh.

Commissioner, Cane and Sugar, Sanjay R Bhoosreddy has asked all the departmental officers concerned and scientists of the sugarcane research centres to begin awareness campaign among the farmers to protect the sugarcane crop from the pest.

Bhoosreddy said that following the idea of ‘prevention is better than cure’, all the necessary protective measures should be taken in time to protect the sugarcane crop.

Bhoosreddy said the outbreak had now reached Ajmer district in Rajasthan, and there was a need to formulate a concrete action plan for effective control of locust outbreaks and to prevent them in the border districts of the state.

He has asked officers to visit the villages regularly to make the farmers aware and take adequate precautions to thwart any possible attack. The department has begun distribution of pamphlets, handbills. It would publish pest prevention measures in daily newspapers, write pest prevention measures on the walls of all offices and warehouses to send the message across to all farmers.

Since locusts attack in large swarms and eat the crop in a short time, it is very difficult to save the crop. Locust activity increases in the case of less water, drought and summer.

Bhoosreddy has also appealed to the sugarcane farmers to monitor the locust outbreaks while visiting their fields.