At a time when the country is struggling with the coronavirus, another attack has taken place in many states of the country. Locusts have attacked it. Like the uninvited guests, lakhs and crores have infiltrated the country by creating herds.
This infiltration of locusts in India is from Pakistan. But it started in Africa. From where these locusts reached Yemen and then through Iran, they reached Pakistan in the month of April. After the devastation in Pakistan, these swarms of locusts entered India through Rajasthan and Gujarat and are now causing havoc in North India.
Locusts have also entered Uttar Pradesh after damaging millions of hectares of crops and tree plants in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Those who have destroyed crops on millions of hectares of land. In Rajasthan itself, crops have been damaged on 5 lakh hectares so far and in Madhya Pradesh too, there has been a lot of wastage in 17 districts.
By the way, the locust attack in India is an annual disaster. From May 2019 to February 2020 locust teams entered India more than two thousand times, but the largest attack by locusts was in 1993. When the grasshopper herds damaged crops and vegetation about 172 times in a year. Then more than three lakh hectares of cultivated land was destroyed by locusts, and now 26 years later, locusts have attacked the country so much.
Flying in lakhs and crores, these locust teams are no less than terrorists for the farmers. These locusts have created panic in many districts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
These teams of locusts doing serial attacks in India have reached India via Pakistan via Iran. Who first damaged crops in Rajasthan and Gujarat. After reaching Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, it caused havoc and now they are creating terror in Uttar Pradesh too.
Leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds of trees, plants and crops, thousands of locusts attack together and ruin everything in a few minutes.
Farmers are spraying pesticides to drive them away. Trying to drive locusts by beating the plate. In many places, efforts are being made to get rid of locusts by smoking in the fields. But in front of millions of locusts, all these efforts are not showing much effect.
In Rajasthan, locusts have attacked villages, as well as cities. Where 16 districts are affected by locust terror. In many residential areas of Jaipur, locusts have taken such occupation that people are afraid even to get out of their homes.
There is also a fixed pattern of these bottomless sea attacks of locusts. Because of which, in India, they have rapidly engulfed many states one after the other ..
Locusts cover a distance of one hundred to two hundred kilometres in a day. The direction of their forward movement depends on the wind speed.
They attack all types of green leaves. They sit on trees, bushes and crops from six o’clock to 8 o’clock in the evening and sit there till morning. This is the time when they can be controlled.
The administration is failing to stop these locust attacks. The farmers themselves are trying to save their fields, but it is not easy for them to thwart the attacks of millions of locusts. Experts are now fearing that if this problem is not controlled soon, these herds of locusts can attack the country’s capital Delhi.
There are more than 10 thousand species of locusts all over the world, the species that are active in India at the moment are desert locusts. Locusts are found on all peninsulas except Antarctica.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, locusts affect the lives of ten per cent of the world’s population. Because of which they are also called the world’s most dangerous pests.
In locusts flying across the sky, there can be up to ten billion locusts. Which can travel up to 200 kilometers at a speed of 13 to 16 kilometers per hour in a day.
Locusts, ranging from one centimetre to four centimetres, can eat about two grams of food every day, equal to their weight. A swarm of locusts, spread over a square kilometre, can eat as much food as a day, which can feed 35 thousand people. A female grasshopper lays eggs at least three times in her life and can lay between 95 and 158 eggs at a time.
The life of a locust is usually three to five months. They are sprayed with chemicals to control the locust party, and this happens when the locusts sit at a place in the evening to rest.
Locust attack is not new to the world. But this year, locust attacks have increased rapidly. There are also reports that in countries where there have been unseasonal rains, the number of locusts has increased rapidly by getting moisture. During the last few months, more than sixty countries in the world have suffered or are facing the attacks of locust parties. Pakistan has reached a position of kneeling before locusts where it has been declared a national disaster and now locust attacks are also increasing rapidly in India.
Source News-DNA
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