Locust invasion: We are ready, India tells FAO

The Union Government today told the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that it was prepared for a possible locust invasion.Agriculture ...

The Union Government today told the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that it was prepared for a possible locust invasion.

Agriculture Secretary Radha Singh, at a meeting of the ‘FAO Commission for Controlling Desert Locust in South-West Asia’, said India is well-prepared to contain any upsurge in desert locusts.

The FAO, however, has urged India and Pakistan to look at the possibility of holding joint surveys. ‘‘I do not know what the political equation between India and Pakistan is. But they can survey together to watch the situation,’’ said senior FAO official, Clive C.H. Elliott. He added that there was a slim chance of a locust invasion because of low rainfall.

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Radha Singh said over the past 40 years, FAO had evolved an effective strategy for checking locust plagues and containing crop losses to the negligible, but, she said, the latest strategy of locust control may give interim relief and not a lasting solution.

The central and western regions, including African and Gulf countries, are badly affected by the desert locust and chances of immigration of locust swarms from these countries to South-West Asian countries cannot be ruled out, she added. P.S. Chandurkar, plant protection advisor to the Government, said over 300 people are monitoring the states which are susceptible to locust invasion and monthly border meetings are held with Pakistan.