Locust control operations carried out at 10 places in Rajasthan, 2 places in Gujarat

NEW DELHI, 20 August 2020: Starting from 11 April 2020 till 18 August 2020, locust control operations have been done in 276,267 hectares area in States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana by Locust Circle Offices (LCOs).

Till 18 August 2020, control operations have been done in 287,374 hectares area in States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Bihar by State Governments.

Control operations were carried out during day and night time yesterday at 10 places in 05 districts viz. Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, Churu and Hanumangarh of Rajasthan and 02 places in Kutch district of Gujarat against hoppers by LCOs.

Presently, 104 control teams with spray vehicles are deployed in the States of Rajasthan and Gujarat, and more than 200 Central Government personnel are engaged in locust control operations. 15 drones are deployed at Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Nagaur and Phalodi in Rajasthan for effective control of locusts on tall trees and in inaccessible areas through spraying of pesticides. Drones are used in hopper control also. A Bell helicopter has been deployed in Rajasthan for use in Scheduled Desert Area as per the need.

No significant crop losses have been reported in the states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Haryana. However, some minor crop losses have been reported in some districts of Rajasthan.

Today (19.08.2020), hoppers are active in Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, Churu and Hanumangarh of Rajasthan and Kutch district of Gujarat.

As per the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Locust Status Update of 14 August 2020, swarms persist in the Horn of Africa. Good rains fell in Yemen where more hopper bands and swarms are likely to form. Hopper groups and bands continue to form along the Indo-Pakistan border.

Weekly virtual meeting on Desert Locust of South-West Asian countries (Afghanistan, India, Iran and Pakistan) is being organized by FAO. 22 virtual meetings of the technical officers of South West Asian countries have taken place so far

Captions

1	LWO operation at Tuga,Teh- Bhuj in Kutch, Gujarat
2	LWO operation at Kelan, Teh- Chattargarh in Bikaner, Rajasthan
3	Hopper mortality at Megana Teh- Nohar in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan
4	LWO operation at Teh- Taranagar in Churu, Rajasthan
5	LWO operation at Khanoda, Teh- Pachpadra in Barmer, Rajasthan