Arunachal Agriculture dept. alerted officials on possible attack of locusts on crops

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: With reported locust attacks on crops in several states across the country, the Agriculture & Horticulture department in Arunachal Pradesh has asked its officials to remain vigilant and alert.

There is no report of crop damages by locust in any district of the State as of now.

According to report, around 80 crore locusts have entered India from Pakistan and another 35 crore are expected to enter the country by next month.

"These have caused widespread fear amongst the farmers in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh," State Agriculture & Horticulture Secretary Bidol Tayeng said in a statement on Wednesday.

Tayeng, on Tuesday, chaired a meeting of the officials of the department to assess the situation. He informed that a committee headed by the Agriculture Director was constituted to monitor the movement of the locusts and take preventive steps in the State.

"The environment in the north-eastern States including Arunachal Pradesh may not be very conducive for the locusts to attack; but the Department of Agriculture and Horticulture is not taking any chances; and has decided to monitor the situation and remain in full alert in a state of preparedness to counter the locust invasion," Tayeng said.

The committee would keep watch on the movement of the locusts, alert the Agriculture officers in the districts, conduct awareness meetings and prepare themselves for any eventuality, he added.

Locusts are grasshoppers, bigger in size, and normally live and breed in semi-arid and desert regions. They move in swarms and can travel upto 150 kms in one day, depending on wind speed.

Locust swarms are capable of damaging a thousand hectares of crops daily, and may cause major agricultural famine situation. Locusts devour leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, barks and growing seeds, and also destroy plants by their sheer weight as they descend on them in massive numbers.

"The locusts moved from the Gulf desert via Yemen, Oman, Iran and Pakistan, before entering India," Tayeng said and added that with no crops in the fields now, they have invaded green spaces, including parks in Jaipur and orange orchards near Nagpur.

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