The government has stepped up efforts to control spread of swarms of locust, a crop damaging migratory pests, in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, and plans to soon deploy drones for spraying pesticides, the Union agriculture ministry said.

What are locusts?

Locusts are the oldest migratory pests in the world. They are capable of forming swarms. They cause great devastation to natural and cultivated vegetation. They are indeed the sleeping giants that can flare up any time to inflict heavy damage to crops, leading to national emergency of food and fodder. Locust swarms can fly up to 150 km a day with the wind.

Four species are found in India — desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), Bombay locust (Nomadacris succincta) and tree locust (Anacridium spp).

The desert locust is the most dangerous pest species in India as well as in the intercontinental context. During plagues, it can easily affect 20 per cent of the Earth’s land, more than 65 of the world’s poorest countries and potentially damage the livelihood of one-tenth of the world’s population.

The magnitude of the damage and loss caused by locusts is gigantic as they have caused starvation due to its being polyphagous feeder. On average, a small locust swarm eats as much food in one day as about 10 elephants, 25 camels or 2,500 people. Locusts cause damage by devouring leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, bark and growing points and also by breaking down trees because of their weight when they settle down in masses.

Swarms of locusts in the desert come to India from Africa, Gulf, South West Asia during the summer monsoon season and go back towards Iran, Gulf and African countries for spring breeding.

Locust attack in India

During 2019-20, India witnessed a massive locust attack which was successfully controlled.

Starting from May 21, 2019 till February 17, 2020, a total of 4,03,488 hectare area was treated and locust swarms were controlled, an official  statement said.

Usually, the locust swarms enter the scheduled desert area of India through Pakistan for summer breeding in the month of June/July with the advent of monsoon. This year, however, incursions of locust hoppers and pink swarms have been reported much earlier because of the presence of residual population of locust in Pakistan which they couldn’t control last season, the ministry said.

Incursions of locust hoppers have been reported since April 11 and that of pink immature adults since April 30 in bordering districts of Rajasthan and Punjab, which are being controlled.

Pink immature adults fly high and cover long distances during day hours along with the westerly winds coming from the Pakistan side. Most of these pink immature adults settle on trees during night, and mostly fly during the day.

How is the govt tackling locust attacks?

Advisories have been issued to Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab regarding the locust attack and necessary measures to be taken for effective control and pesticides that are to be used for effective locust control in cropped areas.

About 21 districts in Rajasthan, 18 districts in Madhya Pradesh, two  districts in Gujarat and one district in Punjab have undertaken locust control measures till now, the ministry said in a statement.

It has been controlled in 47,308 hectare areas in total 303 places in Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh by Locust Control Officers in coordination with district administration and state agriculture department.

The government has placed an order for buying 60 spraying machines from UK-based company Micron, and two firms have been finalised for supply of drones for aerial spraying of insecticides for effective control over tall trees and inaccessible areas.

However, there are active swarms of “immature locust” in eight districts in Rajasthan (Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Bikaner, Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Sikar and Jaipur) and seven districts in Madhya Pradesh (Satna, Gwalior, Seedhi, Rajgarh, Baitul, Devas, Agar Malwa), it said.

At present, 89 fire brigades for pesticide spray, 120 survey vehicles, 47 control vehicles with spray equipment and 810 tractor mounted sprayers have been deployed for effective locust control, as per requirement on different days.

For effective control of locusts beyond scheduled desert areas, temporary control camps have been established in Ajmer, Chittorgarh, Dausa in Rajasthan, Mandsaur, Ujjain, Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.

The ministry said it has received permission from the civil aviation ministry for use of drones for locust control.

Currently, the Locust Control Offices have 21 Micronair and 26 Ulvamast spray machines which are being utilised for locust control.

Meanwhile, supply order for procurement of additional 55 vehicles has been placed to strengthen the control potential. Adequate stock pesticide Malathion has been maintained at Locust Control Organisations.

May pose a threat to kharif crops

Sharing the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) update on locust swarms issued on May 21, the ministry said the UN body has said that the current situation remains extremely alarming in East Africa where it is an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods.

New swarms will migrate to the summer breeding areas along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border as well as to Sudan and West Africa.

As vegetation dries out, more groups and swarms will form and move from these areas to the summer breeding areas along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border, FAO had said.

Good rains are predicted during the first half of June along the Indo-Pakistan border that would allow egg-laying to occur, the statement added.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) director general Trilochan Mohapatra said the insects have attacked about 40,000 hectares of land. However, there is no impact on rabi (winter) crops like wheat, pulses and oilseeds as most of them are harvested by now. Swarms have already attacked crops in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and affected orange cultivation in Nagpur.

“The focus now is to stop the outbreak prior to arrival of monsoon rainfall in June-July when locusts will mature and breed. If infestation is not controlled, it will pose a threat to kharif crops,” he said.

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