Context: Locust attack on crops in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
- They attack standing crops and green vegetation
- The situation was about to come under control but for a winter swarm that arrived from Pakistan which originated in Yemen
- Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) has been taking measures to control attacks by the pest for the past eight decades in the country,
- They have been doing regular field surveys to keep a close and regular watch on an over two lakh sq. km area (nearly 11,500 villages) of three states including 1.79 lakh sq. km in Rajasthan (52 per cent of the state’s total area), and the remaining in Gujarat and Haryana.
- kill them either at the stage of breeding in the desert or before their migration
- air-sprayers are being used in deep desert areas.
- The pests have been appearing periodically after a gap of 2-3 or 5-7 years.
- There are 30 countries in four regions of different continents that have an arid climate with large deserts that provide an ideal breeding ground for the locust. Most of the time, locusts are coming to India from Pakistan, or from the Middle East via Pakistan.
LWO
- 1946, HQ- Jodhpur
- Important division of Directorate of plant protection, quarantine and storage under the than Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture
