Swarms of locusts enter Maharashtra
MUMBAI: The skies over six blocks in three districts of Maharashtra darkened on Tuesday as a swarm of locusts entered the state almost 27 years after the last locust invasion. The country is witnessing a severe locust outbreak active across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. These crop munching pests can fly up to 150 km in a day, and are rapid breeders. Central and state bodies have stepped up efforts to control the invasion as it poses a threat to crops and food safety.
A swarm of desert locusts, which is a type of a species of short-horned grasshoppers, flew across Vidarbha’s Amravati, Wardha and Nagpur, and while major food crops are not under threat, as the sowing season is still a fortnight away, fruit orchards and vegetable farms are likely to be affected by the crop munching insects. They were spotted descending on orange orchards of Katol in Nagpur, as well as the neem trees in Morshi and Warud in Amravati.
According to the state agriculture department the swarm is reported to be at least 10km long and 2km wide — the insects are unique in the way that they change their behaviour from solitary to gregarious insects that forage for food together. “The invasion began from Katol (in Nagpur) on Monday morning. While major crop damage is not expected since we are close to monsoon and sowing in these areas begins by June 7, orange orchards are threatened by this invasion,” said Ravindra Bhosale, divisional joint director agriculture, Nagpur division.
As the swarm moves further south into the rural areas of Nagpur like Kamleshwar, hectares of cabbage, ladyfinger, cauliflower, and kidney beans crops are under threat. “An escaping population of desert locusts made their way from Madhya Pradesh into Amravati district on May 24 due to the current wind direction and the presence of forest patches where they can grow and breed. Over 48 hours, they have covered to two more districts showing an unusual swarming behaviour,” said KL Gurjar, deputy director and national coordinator on mitigating locust attacks, Locust Warning Organisation, adding that the last time Maharashtra witnessed such an invasion was in 1993, in Dhule.
State officials sprayed pesticides in affected areas in the intervening night between Monday and Tuesday and managed to kill thousands as a result.