JOIN USRajasthan border villages hit by locust swarm invasion
A major attack by a swarm of a tropical grasshopper, a type of locust, has emerged as a devastating threat to the crops in Jaisalmer, the border district of Rajasthan. The administration and the villagers are on toes to deal with the swarm.
Following the alert that was issued on villages close to Pakistan border, a high-level meeting of officials from both the countries including the scientists met at the border village of Munnabao and deliberated for several hours over dealing with the menace spreading in the villages.
After spotting locusts in the villages in Jaisalmer last month, the Locust Warning Organisation (LWO), headquartered in Jodhpur has been on toes. According to the LWO, the last major locust outbreak was reported in Rajasthan in 1993. It has resurfaced after a gap of 26 years. The first attack was reported in the month of May from the Ramdeora-Pokhran area.
"After being detected in Jaisalmer, we found that the grasshopper has come from bordering village in Pakistan. There are chances of this getting spread, which is why we have sprayed Malathion chemical (high-intensity insecticide) which will keep it away. Our teams are active in the nearby border areas such as Bikaner, Jodhpur, Barmer and Phaloldi. Strict measures are being taken", Mahesh Chandra, a senior official with Locust Warning Organisation told DH.
However, the locust threat only is confined to the nearby villages as it cannot fly long distances (150 kms). It will, however, spread with the help of the wind or desert storm which occurs during the summer season in the desert state of Rajasthan.
As per Locust Warning Organisation, this tropical grasshopper locust is found active from summer to rainy season. The breeding grounds for such grasshoppers are the coastal areas of Pakistan in Balochistan.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has raised alarms over the migration of these swarms from spring breeding areas to summer breeding areas alongside Indo-Pak border. Rajasthan shares 1300-km stretch of border with Pakistan. Chandra said that 1700 bands of hoppers have been treated in Jaisalmer, but according to the UNFAO, more hatching is expected to happen in the next one month.
The locust warning organisation was established by the British Government of Imperial India in 1939. It is headquartered in Karachi. This organisation keeps a watch in the Thar Desert and issues warning about locust incursion, movement and breeding. The present locust warning organisation in Jodhpur was established in October 1946.