Swarms of locusts now enter Maharashtra's Bhandara district

(This story was first published in the Times of India on May 28, 2020)

Nagpur: Locust swarms seem to have left Kalmeshwar near city and made an entry into Mohadi and Tumsar tehsils of Bhandara district, also hovering over other parts of Nagpur and Wardha districts. Officials chasing the pest reported the numbers had reduced substantially from a swarm of 17 km length that was seen on Monday.

Teams of the state’s agriculture department told TOI the swarms were of 2 km to less than 1 km on Wednesday. Swarms were spotted in Tumsar tehsil of Bhandara at around 5:30 pm and then they disappeared into forest area, said the district agriculture officer (DAO) here.

A swarm was then spotted at Temni village in Tumsar tehsil at around 10 pm after which the department began pesticide spraying operations. The department’s officials have mantained that so far there has been no major loss to any crop.

The summer crop of paddy which is grown in irrigated areas is due to be harvested in Bhandara, Gondia and Chandrapur districts. The department has not received any call from farmers complaining of losses, said the DAO.

Ravindra Bhosle, joint director agriculture (JDA) for Nagpur division, said it may be too early to say the numbers had gone down. This can be judged only when the locust settles down after sun down. He said the spraying will begin in the night when the settlement is identified. “May be Monday’s massive spraying in Katol helped but no conclusions can be drawn,” he said.

From Kalmeshwar, the locust had gone towards Parseoni. There were reports that a swarm had also gone towards Gorewada in Nagpur but that could no be confirmed, said Bhosle.

From Ghatrona village in Parseoni tehsil the pest was seen in Ramtek and Mouda and finally in Bhandara district, he said. Subhash Nagre, JDA for Amravati division, said locust had left Amvarati district. In Bhandara it was seen in almost a dozen villages of Tumsar and Mohadi tehsils.

R V Wasnik, taluka agriculture officer (TAO) of Mouda, said the swarms were seen in Aasthi, Chacher, Nisatkheda and a couple of other villages. Farmers have grown brinjal which was in its final stages. There have been reports of losses to the crop, he said. Swarms were seen in areas bordering Amravati and Wardha district, said an agriculture department source.