Maharashtra: Agriculture university suggests ways to tackle with locust attack

As parts of Maharashtra and other states face attacks from locusts, which destroy crops and vegetation, an agriculture university has suggested a slew of measures like destroying their eggs and spraying neem oil on crops to tackle threat from the migratory pests.

Swarms of crop-eating locusts have spread across Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The fast-moving insects entered parts of Vidarbha in eastern Maharashtra earlier this week.

The Vasantrao Naik Agriculture University at Parbhani in Marathwada said threat from swarms of locusts destroying crops and travelling long distances in search of food can be tackled by undertaking certain measures.

Destroying their eggs, digging trenches of a specific size and spraying neem oil on standing crops are some of the effective methods to tackle the menace caused by locusts (schistocerca gregaria), it said in a statement.