Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 15
Haryana is bracing for more locust attacks and that too of much higher intensity than the ones witnessed so far as Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan that shares the boundary with five districts of the state has become a major centre for the insects due to heavy breeding.
The Locust Warning Organisation of the Centre has warned Haryana that more attacks of much higher intensity could be witnessed in districts of the state close to Jhunjhunu in the coming days.
As if this was not enough, the locust swarms active in the region have become resistant to the commonly used insecticide, Chlorpyriphos, making the task of officials tougher.
Sanjeev Kaushal, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, said the intensity of the locust swarms which attacked fields in various districts of the state was merely 16 per cent of what the future attacks could be.
"We have been informed that breeding of locusts on a large scale has been witnessed in Jhunjhunu district. Hence, attacks by swarms much bigger than the ones witnessed in the past couple of days could be witnessed in the coming days, particularly after July 22," said Kaushal.
Locusts have attacked agricultural fields in Nuh, Mahendragarh, Rewari, Bhiwani, Dadri and Sirsa during the past some days leading to widespread damage to crops.
Haryana Agriculture Minister JP Dalal had announced the government has already ordered a special girdawari to assess the loss.
With breeding reported in Jhunjhunu, five districts of Haryana — Nuh, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri — run the risk of fresh attacks due to their geographical location.
As per experts, the lifecycle of the desert locust consists of three stages — the egg, the nymph known as a hopper and the winged adult.
Eggs hatch in about two weeks while hoppers develop over a period of about 30-40 days and adults mature in about three weeks.
Assuring that his department is prepared well for the eventuality, Kaushal said that Haryana is going to purchase three drones for aerial spray of insecticide.
He said that the state would also acquire fogging machines being bought by the Centre from the UK for use on high ranges like trees.
Confirming that the locusts had become resistant to Chlorpyriphos due to mutation, Kaushal said the department has decided to use Lamda, a stronger pesticide in the future.
"We have constituted teams comprising 10 to 15 officials in each of the five high-risk districts and we are preparing well for the future attacks," said Kaushal adding that the Centre has appreciated Haryana's efforts in managing the locusts so far.
About-turn
Mahendragarh: A swarm of locust entered the district from Rajasthan on Wednesday morning but it returned after flying over some villages. Farmers of Rasulpur, Nawata Ki Dhani and Balaha Khurd villages spotted locusts and informed the Agriculture Department. Farmers gathered in fields with utensils to scare the insects away but the swarm returned to Rajasthan with the direction of the wind. Jaswinder Singh, Deputy Director (Agriculture), said "Our teams were ready to tackle the swarm but it returned after some time." TNS
Bhiwani success
Hisar: A four-day operation to control locust ended on Wednesday morning with the district authorities claiming that the affected villages of Bhiwani and Dadri districts were free from locusts. Agriculture officials issued an advisory to farmers to destroy the eggs of locust. TNS
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2CfBV5w
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