Amid the Covid-19 crisis, crop-eating locusts entered a forest area in Chhattisgarh's Koriya district from adjoining Madhya Pradesh, marking the first such invasion after 58 long years. But officials said there has been no damage.
“This is the first such invasion by locusts in the last 58 years in the area. In 1962, locusts entered Surguja (in erstwhile Madhya Pradesh), now located in northern Chhattisgarh," Agriculture Department officials said.
So far, no damage to crops or trees has been reported due to these short-horned grasshoppers, which were either killed or driven away by spraying of pesticides, they said.
On Sunday, locusts came inside a forest area near Maniktarai and Jwaritola villages in Bharatpur development block of Koriya from Sidhi district in Madhya Pradesh. It was a small group which entered only around 300 metres inside the jurisdiction of Chhattisgarh, an official said.
Departments concerned which were on the alert immediately swung into action and sprayed chemicals using fire brigade vehicles following which most of the insects died or flew away, the official said.
"There has been no damage to crops as it is a forest area. So far, even trees in the forest area have not been damaged," he said.
Teams of officials from the Agriculture, Horticulture, Forest and Revenue departments have been set up in every district to tackle the locust menace.
Routine monitoring is on in districts bordering Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The Central Integrated Pest Management Centre last week asked the Chhattisgarh Agriculture Department to alert officials and farmers about these insects and take precautionary measures, officials said.
Farmers have been advised to take steps to protect their crops and trees. Tractor-mounted sprayers have been arranged in all bordering districts, he said.
Besides, villagers have been advised to form groups and create a din by beating 'thalis' (steel plates), tin boxes and loud sound-producing instruments to drive away the insects.