27 June 2020, New Delhi: Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have been seeing scattered Locust attack through the month of June. Swarm of Locust have taken various routes entering Indian border originating from the spring breeding areas in Baluchistan, Indus Valley (Pak) and southern coast and parts of Sistan-Baluchistan.
The Agriculture Department recently notified that a swarm of 2 km x 4 km size which was controlled in Jhunjhunu district (Rajasthan) on 26th June 2020 had further moved to Rewari district in Haryana. Control operations were carried out by the State Agriculture Department deploying tractors and fire brigade vehicles to save the recently sown kharif crops in the state
The swarm has now split into 3-4 smaller swarms moving towards Nuh (Haryana) and other two moved towards Gurugram and U.P.
Ground control teams have been deployed in Haryana to follow these swarms. Teams active in Rajasthan have been moved to join the operations in U.P along with the drone facility. State Agriculture Departments of Haryana & U.P. have been continuously kept informed and they are making necessary arrangements for control wherever the swarm finally settles.
This year starting from 11th April 2020, a total of 1,27,225 hectares have been controlled till 26th June, 2020. India is the first country to control locust by using drones after finalising the protocols and getting all statutory approvals.
