7 dists gear up to combat locust threat

Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 5

With reports of swarms of locust moving towards Haryana, the state government has chalked out an elaborate plan for monitoring and controlling the attack by involving DCs and officials of the Agriculture Department of seven districts – Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Rewari and Mahendragarh.

The state Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department has also requested scientists of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar, to tie up with officials of the Agriculture Department for close monitoring of the situation.

It has also roped in semi-government agencies like HAFED, Haryana Seed Development Corporation, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation and Haryana Land Reclaim and Development Corporation to arrange stocks of pesticide Chloropyriphose for the control of locust on consignment basis so that it could be provided to farmers on 50 per cent subsidy.

“You are aware that the attack of locusts has been noticed in the adjoining states of Rajasthan and Punjab. It has been reported that locusts are moving towards Haryana and entering villages Phulon, Chatha and Panniwala Morka villages of Sirsa. It may move to the adjoining districts of the state. Therefore, the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department has decided to initiate steps for monitoring and control of the locust attacks,” says a letter of the Director General of the department addressed to the DCs of the seven districts.

Providing details of the measures, Sanjeev Kaushal, Additional Chief Secretary of the department, said that while the DCs have been made nodal officers for their respective district, deputy directors of the department have been given the responsibility of updating the DCs on the locust attacks.

In case of locust swarm attacks, the DCs have been authorised to use pesticides arranged by the semi-government agencies on 100 per cent subsidised rates, he said.

A team of senior officers of the department has been constituted at the state level for close monitoring of the situation and the officials of the department have been asked to set up WhatsApp groups by including progressive farmers for sharing of information.

Locusts are short-horned grasshoppers with highly migratory habit, marked polymorphism and voracious feeding behaviour. India has not witnessed any full blown locust cycles after 1962. However, during 1978 and 1993, large-scale upsurges were observed. Localised locust breeding has also been reported and controlled during the period 1998, 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2010. Since 2010, the situation remained calm and no major breeding and swarm formation have been reported.

Gregarious adults (swarms) migrate in the direction of the wind (downwind) at wind speed and can cover a maximum distance of up to about 150 km/day. The direction and speed of the wind determine the displacement of swarms.

“The swarms of locust that come from Pakistan and settle on the way in Punjab or Rajasthan will be managed in these states. Our concern is about a swarm that flies to Haryana and settles midway as 150 km a day is enough length to cover several districts of the state,” said a senior functionary of the department associated with the process.