[Locust Attack India] Worst Locust Attack In Past 27 Year

What are locusts?

Let’s know a bit about locusts, locusts are an insect that is very much similar to grasshopper and cricket. 

In fact, all these three insects belong to the same family. locusts are generally found in desert regions.

You know what is so unique about this locust as compare to grasshopper and crickets, it exists in two phases- it has 2 forms or phase which doesn’t exists in grasshopper and crickets.

These forms are- when they stay alone, then its stay in a solitary phase, but when it is present in crowds and the environmental conditions are congenial. 

For example, wet soil after recent rains with trees and plants in full bloom so at that time they totally transform their form into something different way and that phase is called the gregarious phase.

This metamorphosis of form changes everything about them- their behavior, habits, appearance. It is something like a magic or power up completely.

There is a huge difference in a solitary phase and the gregarious phase. Here we do not have a problem with the ones in their solitary phase but the problem arises when they exist in crowds and are in their gregarious phase- They are yellow and black in color and their eating habits change like they can eat more food and more varieties of food, their endurance increases and their movements become more rapid, even their brain size becomes larger.

How large can one locust swarm be?

The swarm can be as large as a rectangle of 40 km by 60 km.

The swarm found in Kenya in 2020 was 40 km by 60 km in dimension and in a swarm, there can be more than 150 million locusts within one square kilometer

Do you know ??

A swarm can eat as much as 2,500 people in one day, so you can imagine the extent of its scale.

Just imagine how much destruction it can cause and this is why it is said that the locusts are a kind of species that have the most economic impact on the entire planet as compared to any other animal species.

You can see the regions in which this happens- Africa, Middle-East, Pakistan and the western part of India, they are found in larger numbers here because of the large extent of the desert areas in this region.  

How Locusts Devour Everything in their path?

There is no other species on the plant that responds as quickly as desert locusts do, the young locusts are known as hoppers, for at this stage they are flightless. 

They found new feeding grounds by following the smell of sprouting grass.

Normally it takes four weeks for hoppers to become adults, but when the conditions are correct, as now, their evolvement switches to the fast track.

As the vegetation runs out from one place, the winged adults release pheromones- scent messages which tell others in the group that they must move on. 

When a group of locusts merge they form SWARM.

An adult locust eat its entire body weight every day and the whole Swarm can consume literally hundreds of tons of vegetation.

According to their nature they have to keep on moving, the swarms travel with the wind as they know it’s the most-energy saving way of flying.

They believe that following the flow of wind means that they’re always heading towards the area of low pressure, places where the wind meets rains and vegetation just start to grow.

History of locust plague

These locust attacks have been happening for thousands of years throughout the human history.

We all have might noticed in our entire life once that ancient Egyptians had drawn locusts on their tombs.

This tells us that there had been locusts attack even in that age, these tombs are dated around 2400 BC.

The reason why they are mentioned in a lot of religious texts -  for example, Bible and Quran mention locust plagues, it is believed that the locust plague mentioned in the Bible happened in reality in Egypt in around 1400 BC. 

So, this is a problem that has been festering for ages.

Locust attack in India

The locust attack in India today is the worst in the past 27 years in India.

According to a few news blogs like THE HINDU – it’s said that The last big infestation was in 2010.

There were 13 locust plagues between 1964 and 1997.

From 1997 to 2010, there were five outbreaks that were controlled. From 2010 to 2018, there were no major swarms or breeding reported, according to the Locust Warning Organization (LWO), in Jodhpur.

In 2019, Gujarat and Rajasthan reported a significant surge in locust infestations. Nearly 3.5 lakh hectares of cumin, rapeseed, and mustard were damaged and officials had then said that it was the worst attack since 1993.

What makes locust to enter in India?

The climate change is indirectly held responsible for the locust’s attacks happening today, the Indian ocean is warming up more than usual due to the climate change.

The rains become more extreme due to the enhanced heating of the ocean. 

There are many other factors like- torrential rains hit East Africa around the time of December 2019, In fact, there were floods as well - East Africa includes- Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia.

Due to floods and torrential rains, congenial environmental conditions are created for the locusts.

So this becomes a great opportunity for the locusts to breed and change into the gregarious phase, Around February 2020, there was a huge locust plague in Africa after which, these swarms of locusts began to travel east- It traveled to Iran, then Pakistan and now by the time of May, this plague has begun its move towards India.

The winds of the cyclone that had hit Bengal moved in such a direction and in such a way that they were further pushing the swarm of the locusts towards India and this is exerting a very negative influence on Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana.

What is the Solution to fight this locust plague?

Definitely, there is a solution to fight with this locust plague, few are old methods and few are new ideas. all these solutions do come up with some consequences but they do work.

1. Simply spraying them with pesticides and insecticides.

2. Use of eco-friendly Pesticides.

3. The use of loud noises, the locusts flee from any kind of noise.

4. Basically, the farmers were asked to trap these locusts and collect them which will indirectly become food for chicken and help in feeding them because locust is a good source of protein (70% protein) – solution given by Pakistan after testing it in their district.