Locusts back in Kutch, North Gujarat

Rajkot: A threat of another locust attack looms large over regions of Kutch and North Gujarat once again. Locusts have been sighted at isolated places in villages of Kutch, Bhavnagar, Banskantha and Patan, said respective district officials.
According to the Locust Control Office (LCO) in Kutch, there have been reports of locusts in farmer of different villages of Rapar and Anjar talukas.
Ashok Baraiya, platn protection officer at Kutch LCO said that there was not locust attack as such in these village. “The locusts have not come from outside areas like from Rajasthan or Pakistan. But these seems to be local species which might have developed from the eggs laid by the inscets that had attacked the region some months back,” said Baraiya.
He added that since there is no standing crop, there cannot be any damage.
Bhavnagar and Kutch districts had witnessed locust attack last year which had destroyed crops in huge numbers.
The locust were also seen in the villages of Vallabhipur in Bhavnagar. The agriculture officer there, Sanjay Kosambi said, “We got locusts complaints from 2-3 villages, but the insects are very scattered. However, we have alerted our team and also guided farmers how to use pesticide on the locusts.”
Meanwhile, small swarms of locusts was also reported in isolated parts of Banaskantha and Patan districts of north Gujarat over the past few days.
The number of insects was much less as compared to the swarms that attacked parts of north Gujarat in December last year and damaged standing crops in 25,000 hectares of area.
Banaskantha district agriculture officer P K Patel said that after nearly five months, smaller swarms of about 200 to 300 locusts have entered Banaskantha and adjoining Patan district.
“Though we are not supposed to control such a small number of locusts as per international guidelines, we are spraying pesticides wherever we find the locusts. We sprayed chemical on a small swarm at a village near Deesa,” Patel said.
He said these smaller swarms of locusts seen in Banskantha and Patan might have separated from the large swarms that have descended in the desert of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, where an operation against the insects is underway.
“Such smaller swarms are not a threat. They are naturally controlled by peacocks, crows and other birds. We have also deployed hand-held pumps to spray pesticides so that farmers do not panic,” Patel said.
In December last year, locusts from desert areas of Pakistan descended in Gujarat districts like Banaskantha, Mehsana, Kutch, Patan and Sabarkantha and attacked several crops like mustard, castor, cotton, fennel, jatropha and cumin.
The Gujarat government had then announced a compensation for farmers whose crops were damaged. (With inputs from PTI)