The Worst Locust Invasion In Three Decades Is More Bad News For India's Food Security, Economy

Several states in India including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra are staring at a nightmarish scenario as swarms of desert locusts continue to fly in, which is expected to worsen in the coming days.

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While locust swarms invading and eating up everything in its path is not anything new in India and states like Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat have been hit by these flying pests regularly the invasions are becoming more frequent and devastating.

The desert locust which originates in Africa and flies through Iran and Pakistan before entering India, But usually this happens between July and October.

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But this time they come months early and this is the second such invasion since December 2019.

Large locust swarms had invaded Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Punjab between December and February, causing much destruction to the crops.

In February, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations had warned about a second locust invasion this year as a band of newly-hatched insects in southern Iran and southwest Pakistan could cause devastation on a much larger scale.

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And that is happening right now. Since mid-April, locusts have been spotted in parts of Rajasthan and every passing day more and more are flying in and are invading more and more areas across several states.

Locusts which are short-horned grasshoppers travel in large swarms that can spread across kilometres and can travel up to 150 km daily destroying standing crops and devastate livelihoods of people in the agricultural supply chain.

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According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) a swarm of locusts, which contains about 40 million insects, can eat the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people, 20 camels, or six elephants.

Locust plagues are known to cover one-fifth of the earth¡¯s surface, threatening the livelihood of one-tenth of all people

Locust attacks could pose a threat to food security, the FAO has warned.

Currently, locust infestations have been reported from Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. 16 out of 33 Rajasthan districts are affected by locust swarms.

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The locust attack could not have come at the worst time and across states it has put the Kharif crop is at risk.

The extent of loss is not clearly known yet, but the damage could be much more if the situation is not brought under control soon, as sowing of kharif crop begins in mid-June. Ecological conditions are often favourable for locust breeding from July to September during the monsoon.

¡°There is no standing crop on the ground so they are staying on large trees and moving fast. Locust control teams conducted operations by sprinkling pesticide in Jaipur last night and today, the remaining swarms have moved towards Dausa,¡± a senior official in Rajasthan said.

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Experts have warned that if the swarms are not controlled soon enough, they can destroy the standing Moong cereal crop worth around Rs 8,000 crore.

Climate change and global warming are blamed for the increase in locust infestation around the world as rising temperature diminishes rain, which means more dry spells and more locust swarms.