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Madhya Pradesh braces for fresh swarm of locusts
With a huge swarm of locusts expected to enter the country through Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan from Wednesday, and soon spread to other states, the Madhya Pradesh government has asked all its districts to be on alert to tackle the menace.
As many as 36 districts of Madhya Pradesh have been ravaged by desert locusts, a pest that continues to wreak havoc on the state’s agriculture output despite concerted efforts by the agriculture department to control them.
With a huge swarm of locusts expected to enter the country through Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan from Wednesday, and soon spread to other states, the Madhya Pradesh government has asked all its districts to be on alert to tackle the menace.
Swarms of locusts had earlier entered the state through Neemuch in Malwa region and Sheopur in Gwalior-Chambal region around mid-May. A release issued by the state government on Wednesday said, “Two fire tenders sprayed about 80 litres of insecticide on a swarm of locusts spread over a 4km area in Simarhar village of Vidisha district on Tuesday. Similarly, chemicals were sprayed on locusts at Parana, Goojarakhedi and Dhanola villages in Agar Malwa and Kalidudhi and Harra villages of Anupur district on Tuesday.”
“All districts have been directed to be alert and be prepared with necessary resources to track the movement of locusts and control it,” the release said.
Locust warning office, a Union agriculture ministry wing, deputy director KL Gurjar said, “As on Wednesday, swarms of locusts were spotted in Panna, Damoh, Guna and a few other places in Madhya Pradesh. However, we are tracking and controlling the pests and they will be completely eliminated by the time the kharif crop season begins.”
Madhya Pradesh’s minister for agriculture and farmers’ welfare Kamal Patel said, “A sum of ₹51 lakh was sanctioned to 15 districts and ₹64 lakh to 21 other districts for locusts control. We are taking effective measures in controlling the pest. Those farmers whose vegetables or other crops have been damaged will be compensated as per the rules of the revenue department.”
The state government is yet to release any report on the extent of crop loss --mainly vegetables and lentils -- wrought by the pests belonging to the grasshopper family. However, since there is no rabi crop in the fields currently, officials said no massive damage was caused by locusts.
The state agriculture department has decided to seek the help of farmers who own tractors and sprayers for spraying chemicals on locusts. A government official said the department wants farmers to come forward voluntarily to help control locusts, while chemicals will be provided by the department. Government may also consider incentivising them, another official from the agriculture department said.
The next round of major locust attack is expected in mid-July with the pests travelling from the Horn of Africa and entering Rajasthan via Pakistan, the LWO has warned.
