Written by Tiara Jain, a grade 7 student.

It all started in Egypt but those dangerous locusts came in India from Iran and from there it went to Pakistan and then attacked various places in India like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh. These locusts have moved from North and Central India towards Maharashtra, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Locusts are a species of grasshopper. Agriculture is disturbed when locusts swarms attack crops and it is known as locust plague. India was already fighting the novel coronavirus when this new problem came up which could further devastate the agriculture economy and risk food security. This locust attack was the most dangerous attack in 3 decades. These insects are short-horned, adaptive and migratory in nature. They have a life span of 90 days. Desert locusts are insatiable eaters, they consume food equal to their body weight in a day. They feed on green and leafy plants, farmlands, green crops and pastures. They only eat during day time. Desert locusts are one of the most dangerous migratory pests. They are known for damaging and consuming everything in their path especially in the areas which have more crops and are green.

The locusts usually move in swarms and each swarm consist of 150 million locusts. A locust swarm can destroy crops which could cover 35,000 people’s food in just one day. High temperatures invite more locusts to spread in many areas which can damage farms and pastures. They have the ability to adapt to any weather or region as they can change their behaviour on the basis of weather and region. One solution is that locusts can be killed by spraying organophosphate chemicals and pesticides. The locust warning organization has suggested that you could use drones to sprinkle chemicals to kill the locusts. The Indian government has taken action by deploying 89 fire brigades, 47 control vehicles, 120 survey vehicles, and 810 tractors to spray pesticides for effective locust control. Just like India if all the regions that  have been attacked by the locusts take safety measures then the damage caused by the locusts can be minimized and larger

Written by Tiara Jain, a grade 7 student in Mumbai

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