Bhopal: A swarm of crop-eating locusts have entered Madhya Pradesh after destroying crops and trees in several parts of Rajasthan. It is the biggest locust attack in the last 27 years in Madhya Pradesh, threatening the food security of the country.
The officials believe that the locust attack is likely to grow till monsoon season.
The desert locusts have entered Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh’s constituency Budhni in Sehore.
Officials said that locust will stop anywhere for rest in the evenings between 7 pm and 9 pm and has alerted the farmers, asking them to monitor their movement.
Along with state agricultural development, four teams of the central government are doing their maximum effort by using chemical sprays.
Experts have warned that if the swarms are not controlled soon enough, they can destroy the standing Moong cereal crop worth around Rs 8,000 crore. The locusts will also damage nurseries of fruits and vegetables. They said if the insects are not controlled and travel to long distances, cotton and chilly crops worth several thousand crores could also be damaged, reported NDTV.