AGRA: After descending over parts of
Rajasthan,
Gujarat and
Madhya Pradesh, swarms of locusts reached Mathura’s Naujheel division on Sunday morning. The insects made their presence felt in neighbouring district Aligarh’s Gabhana division a day earlier.
The
Mathura administration issued an advisory to farmers on preventive measures to control a probable locusts attack in the Chaumuha division on Saturday.
“Farmers are advised to beat utensils, drums, burst crackers to drive away locusts,” the advisory issued by the Agriculture development officer states. It also says that disinfectants should be sprayed on trees and crops to protect them from locusts at the night.
A farmer in Mathura’s Birjugadhi village, Ram Kumar, said that swarms of locusts stayed there around 2 hours. “We can not assess the loss as of now but they have destroyed the standing crops,” said Kumar.
On Saturday, Aligarh administrative officials had made arrangements of water tankers for spraying chemicals in the farms where huge swarms of locusts were spotted.
Aligarh’s Barauli MLA Thakur Dalveer Singh admitted that the
locust attack in the area last evening had caused heavy losses to farmers. He said the Locusts had destroyed maize crops in fields and mangoes in orchards and the district magistrate had been informed about it. “I visited the area with the district officials today and assured the farmers that also help will be provided to them after a proper survey,” he said.