Krishi Vigyan Kendra issues precautionary measures as swarms of locusts arrive in Delhi, neighboring places

IANS photo

New Delhi: The huge swarms of locusts attacked Delhi and the neighboring places on Saturday (June 27) forcing the official authorities to issue high alerts and precautionary measures.

In the national capital, the south and west districts have been put on high alert and the Development Secretary, Divisional Commissioner and Director Agriculture & Horticulture have been ordered to take necessary steps. 

The Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Delhi issued precautionary measures that may keep the swarms of locusts away from the fields. The following are the measures that the farmers can take:

- Beat utensils to make clanging noises to keep the insects away from the fields.

- Make drains on the edge of the field and fill it with water.

- Use the light trap.

- Burn dried chilli that helps in producing a poisonous smell and the swarms of locusts run away from it. You can also try burning the chilli powder with grass and add some oil to it.

- You can also try lighting up a fire so that the smoke can keep away the insects from the fields.

- Insecticides that you can use per hectare in 400l of water:
  - 800ml of Lambda-cyhalothrin 5% EC 
  - 1.2l of Chloropyriphos 50% 
  - 1.85L OF Malathion 50 EC
  - 400ml of Prefronil 400 
  - 10 kg of Fenvalerate powder

Notably, the swarms of locusts that are usually in lakhs cover around 100-150 km in a day and on average, one swarm of locusts eat the food of over 10 elephants, 25 camels, and 2,500 people in a day. Locusts usually take shelter on trees from sunset to sunrise.

Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare said, "Locust swarm was noticed in Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan) on June 26 morning and control teams were deployed to eliminate locusts. Leftover locusts reached Rewari (Haryana) yesterday evening where control operations were undertaken till early today morning."

They added, "Leftover locusts again regrouped and swarm divided into three groups, one of which moved towards Gurugram, and from there to Faridabad and onwards to Uttar Pradesh. Another locust swarm moved towards Dwarka in Delhi. From there to Daulatabad, Gurugram, Faridabad and this swarm has also entered UP. The third group was seen in Palwal (Haryana) and has also moved towards UP. As of now, no locust swarms are spotted in any city areas."

Earlier in May, the crop-destroying swarms had rattled Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.