India under locusts threat from Somalia, warns UN Agency

The threat of locusts looms large over India once again, as there could be more invasions in the coming days, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said. According to the FAO's Desert Locust situation update which was published on Tuesday, swarms originating in Somalia are moving eastwards across the north and they could continue to migrate across the Indian Ocean to reach the summer breeding areas along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border.

"In Pakistan, control operations are in progress against hopper groups and bands in the Nagarparkar area of southeast Sindh near the Indian border. Groups of adults are maturing in Tharparkar and Cholistan deserts where laying is expected in areas that have already received monsoon rains. This will cause a further increase in locust numbers as hatching and hopper band formation occur in the coming weeks," the FAO said in its update.

As far as India is concerned, the FAO noted that adult groups and swarms are maturing throughout Rajasthan where laying is underway in many areas. "So far, a few hopper groups and bands have formed but substantial hatching is expected in the coming weeks. Control operations are in progress. There have been no recent reports of additional locusts in the northern states as most of the adult groups and swarms have returned to Rajasthan as expected," it said.