Pakistan, India battling worst locust attack in 30 years

NEW DELHI: In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, India and Pakistan are battling another crisis – their worst locust attack in nearly three decades, foreign media reported on Monday.

In Pakistan, the desert locusts have reportedly entered from Iran, and have already devoured considerable quantities of crops in over 60 districts in all provinces, including Balochistan in the southwest. Media also say the country is intensifying efforts to combat the plague with pest control systems, including spray aircraft. Among Indian states affected by the desert locusts, one of about a dozen species of short-horned grasshoppers, are northwestern Rajasthan, northern Punjab, western Gujarat and central Madhya Pradesh. Several other states as well as the territory that includes the national capital have also sounded the alarm over a potential attack in their regions.

In India's worst-hit areas, people have also resorted to tactics such as banging utensils and playing loud music to scare away the pests. Locusts are an omnivorous and migratory insect that can fly hundreds of kilometers in swarms and easily cross national boundaries. Apart from Africa and Asia, it is also found in the Middle East, and inhabits some 60 countries. A swarm one sq. kilometer in size contains about 40 million locusts, which eat the same amount of food in one day as about 35,000 people, according to the FAO.