Bargarh gears up for possible locust invasion

Sambalpur: Apprehensive about attack of locusts, the agriculture department of Bargarh district has become alert and started making preparations to deal with the possible invasion. The Bargarh district shares border with Chhattisgarh to where the locusts are currently moving in.
The agriculture department in Bargarh has created WhatsApp group for all the 253 gram panachayats of the district to disseminate the information to the farmers regarding how to deal with the locust attack.Each WhatsApp group consists of the farmers of gram panchayat concerned besides agricultural field-level officials.
“On the WhatsApp group, the villagers have been advised to form groups and make noise by beating utensils, tin boxes to drive away insects. Moreover, the farmers are also being asked to take preventive measures like spraying neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) or neem-based insecticide on standing crop to protect it from the locust attack. Moreover, the department has also started distributing leaflets among the farmers to sensitise them and create awareness among them on how to tackle the locust attack,” said an official of agriculture department of Bargarh.
Chief district agriculture officer (CDAO), Bargarh, Dinabandhu Gandhi said locusts are short-horned grasshoppers with highly migratory habits and voracious feeding behavior. As locusts stop movement and settle on vegetation and trees after dusk, farmers have been asked to shake of the host trees with large polythene spread underneath and kill the fallen insects by drowning them in kerosene-mixed water, he said.
He further said the locusts have already invaded Chhattisgarh. “There is possibility that the insects would invade Western Odisha also and hence, we have started making preparations. The locusts stay for 48 hours in a place and wreak havoc. However, if heavy wind and rain take place here in this period, the insects will not come here and they will go back,” he added.