The world is struggling with the spread of Novel Coronavirus Pandemic and India, which has crossed 152k cases of COVID is already having a hard time. While India is under lockdown since 25th March 2020 and it has been more than two months, and still people are facing problems.
Migrant workers and the farmers have faced the majority of problems. The farmers were already going under a problematic phase with problems of selling produce are struck with another big problem. The short-horned grasshopper species known as Desert Locust has entered India and they are known for destroying the crop fields.
What Is A Desert Locust?
A Desert Locust is one of about a dozen species of short-horned grasshoppers that change their behaviour and form swarms of adults or bands of hoppers. Generally, a tiny part of an average crowd eats the same amount of food for some 2,500 people in a day. It is one of the world's most destructive migratory pests, and it is highly mobile. It feeds on large quantities of any form of green vegetation, including crops, pasture, and fodder. It is an international transboundary pest that threatens agricultural production and livelihoods in many countries in Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southwest Asia. Its transient nature and rapid population growth capability pose significant control challenges, particularly in remote semi-arid areas, which characterize much of the distribution area.
There are four species Locusts found in India, and they are:
1) Desert Locust
2) Migratory Locust
3) Bombay Locust
4) Tree Locust
Now the question here is how did desert locust Invade in India? According to SWAC, adult groups of Locusts migrated towards the Indian border form breeding areas via Pakistan. They migrated to Punjab and further moved to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.
India has witnessed several locust plagues and locust upsurges and incursions during the last two centuries. Also, small scale localized locust breeding has been reported and controlled during the period 1998, 2002, 2205, 2007, and 2010.
According to the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage, the timeline of Locust Plagues starts from 1812-1821. Further, in these years locusts have targeted India: 1843-1844, 1863-1867, 1869-1873, 1876-1881, 1889-1891, 1900-1907, 1912-1920, 1926-1930, 1940-1946, 1949-1955, 1959-1962.
Measures Taken to Combat The Locust Invasion:
The Locust control offices are working since 11th April with 50 spray equipment/vehicles, in coordination with officials of District Administration and State Agriculture Department.
Tractor mounted sprayers, and fire-tender vehicles are deployed.
Additional equipment is also being procured to increase the control capacity.
However, Locusts constitute a significant threat for the farmers, and they are taking all the steps to remove Locusts from their lands. The farmers are beating utensils to scare away the Locusts, and they are evening creating a fire near the fields whose pollution can help getting rid of this threat.
The Desert Locust is considered the most dangerous migratory pest species in the world. These locusts have the potential of eating everything, which means that they can eat the crops which are yet to be harvested. As per the Environment Ministry, Locust swarm is a significant threat to crops. Including, a severe risk to India's agriculture that can impact India's economy. However, it doesn’t pose any harm to humans.
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