-The Hindu Business Line While dealing with an ongoing invasion, the government should, however, desist from using organophosphates right at the outset, as these could have serious health and ecological consequences After nearly three decades, India is faced with a serious locust invasion. While early swarms have already reached Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, a massive surge is expected in July as swarms are expected from West Asia and as far as the...

In the midst of COVID-19 lockdown, desert locust swarms have been seen in parts of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh in the second half of May 2020. The recent attacks by desert locust swarms have caused massive crop damage, depletion in the stock of cattle fodder and destruction of green vegetation in these states. As on 25th May, 2020, over half of Rajasthan’s 33 districts were...

-Hindustan Times The Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) sprayed Malathion 96 and Chlorpyrifos, both organophosphate pesticides, to control the locust swarms across states. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations said on Friday that it may declare the locust invasion a plague if it takes a turn for the worse after breeding by the voracious, crop-crunching insects in India, Pakistan and West Africa. FAO now categorises the locust invasion that has...

-The Hindu A huge challenge is likely to emerge when the swarms flying over 20 districts in Rajasthan start breeding. Jaipur: The threat of locusts, which have invaded vast swathes of land in Rajasthan and entered neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, is bigger this year in comparison with the damage caused to standing crops in a limited area in 2019. The tropical grasshoppers have been crossing over to India via Pakistan’s Sindh province since...

-Down to Earth Attacks by desert locusts are threatening India, Iran and Pakistan, as well as the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region Desert locusts are breeding 400 times than usual due to favourable climatic conditions, according to a report by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). This explosive multiplication may spell disaster for large parts of Asia and Africa. Favourable climatic conditions for the pests have resulted in their multiplication,...