locust swarm / A swarm of locusts eats the food of 35,000 people in a single day.

Locust Swarm: Wherever the locust party goes, it creates havoc, these parties lick the farm fields, now once again the danger of them is looming large, Locust eggs have been found in large quantities in the border areas of Rajasthan, Rajasthan According to the survey of locust control team, the process of release of locusts from these eggs has started, which is a sign of danger. Locusts always fly in herds, crores of locusts are involved in their herd, wherever they sit, the crops of that place get licked within a few minutes. How dangerous they are can be gauged from the fact that a swarm of 40 million locusts eats up so much food in a day that it can feed 35,000 people.

How dangerous are these locusts

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations i.e. FAO, a group of locusts which is spread over one square km, contains about four crore locusts, a locust eats grains equal to its weight, if for one person If the average quantity of grain is considered to be 3.2 kg, then this party eats so much grain in a day, which can fill the stomach of 35 thousand people. They not only make crops but also trees and plants their prey, they eat flowers, seeds, bark.

Where do so many locusts come from

The locust eggs found in the border areas of Rajasthan are said to have come from Pakistan, in fact locusts travel a long way before reaching India, they come from Iran via Afghanistan and Pakistan to India and They damage the crop along the way. It is not that only these countries are at risk from swarms of locusts. Even in African countries, the swarm of locusts affects the crops a lot.

Why is there such a population of locusts

The population of locusts grows very fast, according to experts, the life span of locusts is just 3 to five months, but a female locust lays eggs three times in her lifetime, the special thing is that the number of eggs laid once is only Can be up to about 150. Locusts are especially found in moist areas, that is why the risk of their attack increases after the monsoon.

Go with the wind

The specialty of the locust party is that it moves with the wind, a locust party usually flies at a speed of 13 km per hour and travels 150 to 200 km in a day. Experts believe that if a locust swarm sits on the crop, then within 20 to 25 minutes it can destroy the crops and plants of an entire area.

This is the history of locust attack

To avoid the attack of locusts, advisory is also issued by the Union Ministry of Agriculture, according to the Directorate of Plant Protection under it, the history of locust attacks in India is old. According to records, since 1812 locusts have been continuously attacking. The special thing is that due to the attack of this party in 1926, crops worth more than Rs 10 crore were destroyed in India. Apart from this, every two or three years since 1940 till now locusts have been attacking in India and every time crops ranging from one lakh to 2 crore rupees have been destroyed.

There was a big attack in India three years ago.

Earlier in India, there was a major attack of locusts in 2020. During the Corona epidemic, the swarm of locusts had caused a lot of havoc. According to government statistics, at that time crops of more than 50 thousand hectares were destroyed in some areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and UP.

This is the way to save

Control and monitoring is the only way to deal with locust swarms, for this the Desert Locust Information Service issues warnings in India. When locusts attack an area, they are chased away with a loud sound, apart from this, insecticide is also sprayed in the air.