NEW DELHI, 25 July 2020: Starting from 11 April 2020 till 23 July 2020, control operations have been done in 202,565 hectares area in states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana by Locust Circle Offices (LCOs). Till 23 July 2020, control operations have been done in 198,657 hectares area in states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Bihar by State Governments.

In the intervening night of 23-24 July, 2020, control operations were carried out at 30 places in 06 districts viz. Barmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Churu, Nagaur and Sriganganagar of Rajasthan by LCOs.

Besides this, Rajasthan State Agriculture Departments also carried out control operations at 1 place in Bharatpur district in the intervening night of 23rd-24th July, 2020 against small groups and scattered population of locusts.

Presently, 104 control teams with spray vehicles are deputed/deployed in the states of Rajasthan, and Gujarat, and more than 200 central government personnel are engaged in locust control operations. Aerial spraying capacity has been strengthened for anti-locust operations.

A Bell helicopter has been deployed in Rajasthan for use in Scheduled Desert Area as per the need. Indian Air Force is also conducting trials in anti-locust operation by using Mi-17 helicopter.

The results are encouraging; further, five companies with 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.

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.

As on 24 July 2020, swarms of immature pink locusts and adult yellow locusts are active in Barmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Churu, Nagaur, Sriganganagar and Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan.