Swarms of desert locusts threaten India’s summer crops

The situation has been particularly grim in central India’s Rajasthan, where millions of locusts have been attacking crops since April. The insects are now appearing in locations where they had not been previously sighted, nibbling their way across large swathes of farmlands in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh. and Gujarat states, too.

“It is an alarming situation,” said KL Gurjar, a top official of India’s Locust Warning Organization. “But we are more worried about their breeding. If that happens, it could be devastating for our farmlands.” Exasperated farmers have been banging plates, whistling or throwing stones to try to drive the locusts away, and sometimes even lighting fires to smoke them out.“These insects are giving us sleepless nights. We are more worried about them than the virus,” said Mandeep Singh, who spent hours Tuesday trying to chase away the locusts from his cotton farm in Punjab.

Experts have warned that authorities will have to stop locusts from breeding before the monsoon season starts to ensure that they do not end up devouring summer crops and aggravate an already burgeoning agrarian crisis that hit India after a countrywide lockdown that started in late March.

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