The locust was checked at 334 sites in Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
New Delhi:
Stepping up its efforts to control the spread of swarms of crop pests, which are mainly prevalent in northern India, the Union’s Department of Agriculture said on Thursday that 15 sprayers will be purchased in the UK in a fortnight days and plans are underway to deploy drones and helicopters for the antenna. spraying of pesticides.
There was no information on the entry of a new swarm of locusts on Thursday from the border areas of Indo-Pak, said Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar, adding that the control measures were in full swing in close coordination with state agriculture departments, local government and the Border Security Force (BSF).
As to date, there are active swarms of immature locusts in the districts of Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Bikaner, Suratgarh, Dausa of Rajasthan, Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh and Rewa, Morena, Betul, Khandwa of districts of Madhya Pradesh and Nagpur and Amravati of Maharashtra for which control operations are underway, said the ministry of Agriculture in a statement.
In reviewing the locust control operation with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Tomar said: “The government is concerned about the matter and is addressing the situation urgently.”
The Center is in close contact with the affected states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and a notice has been issued, he said.
To ensure that adequate machinery is made available to states for effective swarm control, the minister said: “15 sprayers will start arriving from Britain in the next 15 days. In addition, 45 more will bought in a month or a month. ” a month and a half. “
“Drones will be used to spray pesticides on large trees and inaccessible areas for effective locust control, while plans are underway to deploy helicopters for aerial spraying.”
Already, two companies have been finalized by tender for the use of drones for spraying pesticides, he added.
A committee, chaired by the Additional Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, has been formed to purchase services and goods for spraying insecticides by drones and aircraft.
Tomar added that 11 regional control rooms had been established and that special contingents had been deployed as well as additional staff to control the spread of locusts.
“He has assured that affected states will be allocated additional resources and financial assistance if necessary,” the statement said.
In the meantime, the Union’s Ministry of Agriculture has declared that a supply order for the purchase of 55 additional vehicles has been placed to strengthen the control potential.
An adequate stock of pesticides is maintained (53,000 liters of malathion) with locust control organizations.
According to the ministry, there was no new entry of locusts swarm on Thursday but on 26 May a swarm of locusts entered from the Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan and a control operation was underway against these swarms.
The Secretary of Agriculture, Sanjay Agarwal, said that 47 spraying equipment is currently used in the locust control offices (LCO) and 200 officials are deployed.
Beyond the planned desert areas, temporary control camps have also been set up in Jaipur, Chittorgarh, Dausa in Rajasthan; Sheopur, Neemuch, Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh for locust control.
The Desert Locust was controlled over an area of approximately 50,468 hectares at 334 sites in Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Locust control operations were undertaken daily in the morning with the help of control spray vehicles, tractor-mounted sprayers and fire engines under the supervision of the relevant district authorities and officials from the Department of Agriculture. agriculture of the state.
The Rajasthan government has deployed 778 tractors and 50 firefighters, Madhya Pradesh – 72 tractors and 38 firefighters, Uttar Pradesh has deployed 6 tractors and Punjab has deployed 50 tractors and 6 firefighters to combat locusts.
Currently, pink swarms of immature adults are reported in India, which is very active and mobile and it is difficult to control them in one place.
It takes at least 4 to 5 days of control in different places to completely eliminate the locust population in a flock. A sufficient stock of pesticides is available from the locust control organization, the statement said.
