From the latest news source, it has been well clear that an insect grouped under the species of grasshopper in an order Orthoptera named Locust, is making India suffer much, which is somehow providing a fear of getting transfer to Nepal. Locusts belongs to the family Acrididae. As per report, these insects were first seen in Africa (many regions like Ethopia , Somalia ,Eritrea ) which then transferred to Iran ,later then Pakistan and today it has been as a destructive agent in our near country ,India ; providing huge effects in the productivity sector. Since , the swarms of locust possess the habit of adapting any ecological region easily i.e they change their behavior and migrate over large distances ;it is providing a risk that Nepal may suffer soon. The evidence that is recorded in agriculture history books mentions that around 60 years ago, locusts were seen around Kathmandu and related areas which created havoc , that destroyed the crop production badly.
People often seem to get confuse with grasshoppers resembling somehow to locusts , but yes there are differences. Locusts are double size of grasshoppers and moreover they love to live in a group and have a great speed capacity and fly higher. Their speed is 150 km per day. They also have a big hind legs that help them to hop or jump. Locusts normally live without companions but they come together in swarms during the period of dry spells. When the population of locusts changes into large form, they transform into gregarious stage that becomes dangerous. People also eat them as food in many regions of the world. Among many species, the desert locust (Schistocera gregaria) is the best known species found in huge distribution in many places.
The most fear that we have recently is that the rainy season is approaching soon and in this sense what we have to know is that locusts main reproduction period is in this season . It reproduces 5 times in a month ; in a faster rate. Normally ,it takes 4 weeks for hoppers to become adult but when the right conditions are met, their development becomes fast. These insects have even reached in the residential area in some places of Rajasthan, as per report . Locusts donot provide any kinds of harm to humans; indeed it’s a relief news for us in such a hard times.
These crop eating insects are causing demolition in different places like Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh , Maharastra ,Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh ,etc of India in recent times. According to the research , a single square kilometer of a swarm can eat food consumed by 30,000 people in a day. These can destroy lots of kharif crops if not controlled, which they are doing now . Till now, they have eaten 500,000 hectares of crops in India .It is very saddening to see a country suffering much . No matter what , India has always been forward for exporting much crops to many countries and providing proper food access .
People are using aerial chemical sprayers like lambdacyhalothirn, deltamethrin, fipronil, malathion ,etc to control the swarms by the use of special mounted guns. Pesticides are considered much effective control till now. The close distance between Nepal and India is predicting some danger these days. Locusts can enter Nepal from the western and south-western sides; which is a high risk. If such swarms of locust migrate then we will have a great loss in our productivity sector. The summer crops will be destroyed and we will have a huge problem for feeding our nation.
We have also a kind of hope left for not being affected by this pandemic .The winds coming from eastern Nepal from Bay of Bengal can help to prevent the flow of locusts and stop them from entering in Nepal. Our government is formulating plans to tackle locusts problem recently in a meeting held under the leadership of Rajendra Prasad Bhari , Agriculture Secretary. A new committee is even foemed to deal with the issue. So, lets pray for better tomorrow and solace from the disappearance of this epidemic.
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