A locust epidemic of this magnitude in the country is observed after several decades, said Ashok Gehlot.
Jaipur:
The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to declare the locust attack as a national disaster which will strengthen the capacity of states to combat this threat.
Mr Gehlot, in a letter dated August 2, said about 6.70 lakh hectares of land in 12 districts of the state had been affected by a locust infestation in the year 2019-20.
“With the help of locust warnings from the central government and the joint efforts of the Center and the state government, the impact of the threat has been greatly reduced. However, farmers still suffered losses equal to around Rs 1,000. crore, ”Mr. Gelot said.
Besides Rajasthan, he said that Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states also face the threat this year.
“In 2020-2021, after locusts entered the state on April 11, approximately 32 of the state’s 33 districts witnessed the outbreak of the infestation … Therefore, the locust threat is no longer not remained a problem for The locust epidemic of this magnitude in the country is observed after several decades, ”said Mr. Gehlot.
“Declaring that this is a national disaster will strengthen the capacity of states to deal with this threat,” the letter reads. It is also important that, since it is an international problem, all affected countries should act on the matter with consensus, ”he said.
Notably, several locust control operations were carried out in all severely affected districts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana, among other states, by state and central government teams.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, no significant crop loss has been reported in the states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Haryana. However, minor crop losses were reported in some districts of Rajasthan, he noted.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
