Locusts Attack

A locust attacks emanating from the desert area in Pakistan have struck parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, caused heavy damage to standing crop. India has suffered the biggest Locust Attack in 25 Years, which is not fully controlled yet.

The ancient Egyptians carved Locust on their tombs and the insects are mentioned in the Iliad, the Bible and the Quran.

Locusts, which are part of the short-horned grasshoppers family, are highly mobile insects that can migrate across different countries and cause extreme damage to crops.

The swarms usually originate in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa.

Migratory: Adult locust swarms can fly up to 150 km a day with the wind.

A small swarm of the desert locust, which contains about 40 million insects, can eat on average as much food in one day as about 10 elephants, 25 camels or 2,500 people.

Locust  can rapidly reproduce and increase some 20-fold in three months.

Locust adults can eat their own weight every day.

India is most at risk of a swarm invasion just before the onset of the monsoon.

Crop damage:

1-Estimates say crops were affected in more than 3.5 lakh hectares in districts of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

2- Crops of mustard, cumin and wheat have been most damaged.

3- Farmers whose crop was damaged would be entitled to compensation.

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