UN body predicts a major locusts attack on India in July

The Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nationshas warned India that a major locusts attack is looming large on India in July. According to a forecast issued by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 27 May, “Several successive waves of invasions can be expected (in India) until July in Rajasthan with eastward surges across northern India as far as Bihar and Odisha followed by westward movements and a return to Rajasthan on the changing winds associated with the monsoon."

FAO has forecast that between 22 June and 19 July, locust swarms will travel to India directly from their spring breeding habitats in East Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya), West Asia (Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran), Afghanistan and Pakistan. KL Gurjar, the Indian government’s Locust Warning Organization (LWO), said many villages in Barmer and Jodhpur districts in Rajasthan continued witnessing locust attacks. Drones, fire tenders and tractors have been already used to spray chemicals on locusts when they settle over trees at night. Locust presence was seen in parts of Vindhya, Bundelkhand and Gwalior-Chambal regions of Madhya Pradesh on Friday. In Rajasthan, places such as Barmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Jalore, Nagaur and Bikaner reported locust swarms.