New Delhi: Swarms of locusts are expected to reach as far as Bihar and Odisha in July but there are less chances of migratory pests reaching south India, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
In the past few days, there have been movements of adult groups of locusts in India, Oman, the UAE, and Uganda. Swarms are forming in the spring breeding areas and migrating east to the Indo-Pakistan border ahead of the monsoon rains, it said.
In its latest update, the FAO said locust swarms have moved into northern India.
Spring-bred immature adult groups of locust and swarms that arrived in Rajasthan from the west continued to move east in the eastern portion of the state and to the central states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Much of these movements were associated with strong westerly winds from Cyclone Amphan in the Bay of Bengal, the FAO said and added the control operations are underway.
The FAO warned that “several successive waves of invasions can be expected until July in Rajasthan with eastward surges across northern India as far as Bihar and Orissa followed by westward movements and a return to Rajasthan on the changing winds associated with the monsoon,”
These movements will cease as swarms begin to breed and become less mobile, it said.
“Swarms are less likely to reach south India” and also to Nepal and Bangladesh, the FAO said.
The crop-eating pests have entered India through Pakistan. Besides Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, swarms have entered Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district and also Maharashtra’s Ramtek city, according to the Indian government”s data.
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