Farmers, Officials Rush to Stop Breeding Before Monsoon as Locusts Reach MP, Maharashtra

New Delhi: The early arrival of rapacious crop-eating desert locust swarms in India this year has officials and farmers across states on their toes. After arriving in Rajasthan, the swarms crossed into Madhya Pradesh, reaching as far as Panna in Bundelkhand region, and now there are reports that the swarms have reached Maharashtra.

Officials from the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage under the agriculture ministry told News18.com that 43,000 hectares have been brought back in control across Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. State agencies, farmers and central teams have been spraying Malathion-96 organophosphate insecticide on the swarms at night during control operations.

“Rajasthan is the most affected so far, followed by Madhya Pradesh. We have managed to control the swarms in at least 43,000 hectares in these two states and our teams are camping on sites. Currently, the swarms appear rosy pink which means they are fledgling,” said KL Gurjar, deputy director, Locust Warning Organization and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage.

“But if they are able to survive on crops and plants till monsoon, there might be more trouble as they will be able to lay eggs. Efforts are on to control the swarm before monsoon arrives in these parts. Their movement is being aided by north-westerly winds and they can fly above 200 km per day,” Gurjar added.

Locust swarms can vary from less than one square kilometre to several hundred square kilometres. There can be at least 40 million and sometimes as many as 80 million locust adults in each square kilometre of swarm, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

A desert locust adult can consume roughly its own weight in fresh food per day, that is about two grams every day. A swarm 1 square kilometre in size contains around 40 million locusts, which eat the same amount of food in one day as about 35,000 people. This is based on a person eating an average of 2.3 kg of food per day, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

Farmers and government officials have been spraying insecticides using tractors, drones and fire-mounted trucks. The control operations have to be planned carefully as swarms can get disturbed by noise.

Behind the Large Swarms, Cyclones and Climate Change

The swarms seen right now and early this year in January have been linked to the locust outbreak in east Africa, especially in the Horn of Africa region.

The Horn of Africa region, comprising countries like Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan, was hit by eight cyclones in 2019, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and also saw widespread rainfall between October and November.

Scientists have said that these conditions proved to be ideal for breeding of locusts. Green vegetation and moisty sandy soils are favoured for breeding by locusts, the WMO said this February.

The high rainfall and cyclone systems have been spurred by a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, an ocean circulation pattern. The Indian Ocean Dipole is the difference between sea surface temperatures in the western and eastern equatorial Indian Ocean. A positive IOD usually brings good rainfall to India’s west coast and to East Africa.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said in its May 21 situation update that new swarms from current breeding will form from mid-June onwards, coinciding with the start of the harvest. Thereafter, there is a risk that swarms will migrate to the summer breeding areas along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border as well as to Sudan and perhaps West Africa.