Farmers trying to save their crops after the large locust attack in Lucknow, Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. (Express photo: Vishal Srivastav)
Drill drills were held in Kheti Bhawan of Bathinda on Sunday morning after locust swarms were observed in the villages of Mangla and Malika in the Sirsa district of Haryana, located some 60 km from the Punjab border.
Swarms were also seen in the Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan again about 60-70 km from the last Punjab village on the Fazilka side. “However, the rain during the day helped us a lot because the swarm settled and therefore was unable to fly to Punjab. Early in the morning, the wind direction was towards Punjab, ”said Jeet Virk, an official with the Bathinda Department of Agriculture.
The Bathinda, Fazilka, Muktsar, Mansa, and Faridkot districts have been alerted as they have borders close to Rajasthan or Haryana. Muktsar, Fazilka, and Bathinda are close to the Rajasthan and Haryana borders.
Sutantantar Kumar, Agriculture Director, Punjab, said: “Our teams are ready, but it appears that the danger has diminished for the time being. Drills were held in Bathinda and Fazilka. “Meanwhile, the swarms in Rajasthan were up to 3.5 km long.
He added: “We have around 17,000 liters of pesticides in stock. Aside from this, Markfed is on call to supply more if needed. A team from the Government of India is sitting in Abohar to keep a close watch, while another team is also in Rajasthan. They will provide us with drones if necessary. We have spray pump lists that are also with the department and local farmers. ”
Meanwhile, so far, some swarms had been seen in Fazilka in February, March, and even April. However, they were well controlled in time, so that damage to crops could be avoided. An alert about locust swarms has been voiced across the state and not just in border districts, the agriculture director said.
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