How dangerous can grasshoppers be in a corona crisis?

How dangerous can grasshoppers be in a corona crisis?

Locusts coming from Pakistan change their path with the wind, followed by Rajasthan to Madhya Pradesh, then Uttar Pradesh. These locusts may soon reach Maharashtra, Orissa and Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
Leaving the Rajasthan desert, locusts are now reaching many states, they cannot even imagine how dangerous these locusts can be. A bunch of them can ruin the entire crop in a short time. These desert locusts coming from Pakistan enter India through Rajasthan and Gujarat, changing their path along the way the wind turns. These locusts have reached Rajasthan, followed by Madhya Pradesh, then Uttar Pradesh. According to experts, these locusts may reach Maharashtra, Odisha and Punjab, Haryana and Delhi soon.
Every year locusts come in Gujarat, where they are controlled, but this time the Corona crisis gave them a chance to move forward. According to the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage under the Union Ministry of Agriculture, India has been facing locust attacks since 1812.
The locust warning organization works under the Ministry of Agriculture to control locusts in India. Dr. KL Gurjar, Deputy Director of Locust Warning Organization (LWO) explains, "Locust attacks in India occur only in Rajasthan and Gujarat, they are desert locusts that migrate from Pakistan to India. They come to the desert for breeding. The breeding time of these locusts is from June-July to October-November. " In India, more than 2 lakh sq km area comes under the scheduled desert area. The Locust Warning Organization and 10 Locust Circle Offices (LCOs) of the Government of India have been created in Rajasthan (Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Phalodi, Barmer, Jalore, Churu, Nagaur, Suratgarh) and Gujarat (Palampur and Bhuj). Dr. KL Gurjar further adds, "Several locust warning organizations have been created in Rajasthan and Gujarat to control locusts, from where locusts are monitored. Locusts move in the direction the wind moves. . " Amidst large grasshopper contingents reaching across western and northwestern India, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DAC & FW) has stepped up operations to control locusts in affected states such as Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. To date, these locust teams are active in Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Bikaner, Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Sikar, Jaipur districts of Rajasthan and Satna, Gwalior, Sidhi, Rajgarh, Betul, Dewas, Agar Malwa districts of Madhya Pradesh. The locust party kills most crops such as maize, moong, urad, sugarcane, vegetables, mangoes, etc. Wherever they see greenery, they attack them and lick the whole crop.
Initially, when locusts were attacked in Rajasthan, experts from Integrated Management Centers (IPM) were also called in many states across the country. Rajiv and several of his colleagues from the Integrated Management Center (IPM) were also called to Jaisalmer. Rajiv says, "We moved to Jaisalmer in April, when locusts reached Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, we are going to locust control till now Madhya Pradesh and Jhansi." Presently 200 locust circle offices (LCOs) are carrying out surveys and control work in coordination with the district administration and agricultural field machinery of the affected states. Locust control works are in full swing in coordination with state agricultural departments and local administration. So far locust control work has been carried out in 21 districts of Rajasthan, 18 districts of Madhya Pradesh, one district of Punjab and 2 districts of Gujarat. Ajmer, Chittorgarh and Dausa of Rajasthan to effectively control locusts beyond desert areas; Temporary control camps have been set up at Mandsaur, Ujjain and Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. Pakistan comes through Iran. In February this year, Pakistan declared a national emergency in view of locust attacks. After this, locusts started coming to India from April 11 as well. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are also facing a similar situation for the last few months. In December 2019, locusts destroyed crops spread over 25,000 hectares in Gujarat.
The area affected by the outbreak of desert locusts is about 30 million square kilometers, including the whole or part of 64 countries. These include Northwest and East African countries, Arabian Peninsula, Republic of Southern Soviet Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, and the Indian subcontinent. Locusts occur in large numbers in the arid and semiarid region when locusts occur in small numbers during the outbreak-free period, which then spread from the Atlantic Sea to northwest India. Thus they are found in an area of ​​about 16 million square kilometers in 30 countries. Till now (as of 26.05.2020), LCOs have taken control of locusts in an area of ​​47,308 hectares of a total of 303 locations in Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in coordination with district administration and state agriculture department. 89 fire extinguishers for spraying pesticides to effectively control locusts; 120 survey vehicles; 47 control vehicles with spraying equipment and 810 tractor mounted sprayers were deployed during different days as per requirement.