The locusts will also damage nurseries of fruits and vegetables (File)
The scourge of locusts has been haunting farmers in parts of northern India for weeks. The crop-destroying insects from the grasshopper family, entered Madhya Pradesh earlier this week, in the most vicious attack in nearly three decades. They have the potential to put in jeopardy India's food security, experts say. In Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, the administration has kept firemen ready to hose them down with chemicals. Locusts today entered a Jaipur residential area before moving away in search of green areas to satiate their enormous appetite.
Here is the 10-point guide on locusts:
Locusts look like a common grasshopper. They have two big hind legs with which they can hop like grasshoppers. They normally live a solitary life, but in dry spells they come together in a huge mass, which can destroy massive swathes of vegetation within days.
They only eat plants. Dry spells before rain force them to huddle together in small patches of green land. As they come close, a hormone makes them more sociable. When it rains, they reproduce rapidly and enter their gregarious phase in which their bodily capabilities get enhanced.
They fly in swarms of millions, and quite rapidly. They travel tens of miles in a day and have tremendous endurance. They can remain in the air for a long time, covering huge distances. They are capable of doing massive crop damage. If not checked, they can clear out fields in a few hours. Each insect can eat as much as it weighs.
Desert locusts originate in East Africa and Sudan and travel in swarms across Saudi Arabia and Iran to Pakistan and India. Then the bigger swarm breaks into small swarms, affecting different parts of the country.
Swarms of desert locusts have been spreading through India from Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh, destroying crops and pastures at a voracious pace. Currently, 16 out of 33 Rajasthan districts are affected by locust swarms. The state's Kharif crop is at risk.
The desert locusts entered Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh's constituency Budhni in Sehore earlier this week. The pests entered through Neemuch district in the state, subsequently travelled to parts of Malwa Nimar and were close to Bhopal.
The Madhya Pradesh agriculture department has issued an advisory to the farmers in villages of the affected districts to keep continuous vigil over the desert locusts. They have been asked to keep the insects at bay by using loud sounds through drums, banging of utensils and shouting.
Experts have warned that if the swarms are not controlled soon enough, they can destroy the standing Moong cereal crop worth around Rs 8,000 crore.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), an agency of the United Nations, the desert locust is considered the most dangerous of all migratory pest species in the world. It threatens people's livelihoods, food security, the environment and economic development, it said.
Experts say global warming can increase the chances of locust attacks. Rising temperature diminishes rain, which means more dry spells and more locust swarms.
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