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West Africa should continue to take anticipatory measures and preparatory steps. India should remain on high alert during the next four weeks. https://twitter.com/FAOLocust/status/1274437952794476544
As India struggles to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, several parts of the country have experienced heavy infestations of locusts – an insect that devours crops and foliage, often leaving devastation in its wake. If there’s a silver lining to this cloud, it is that India has
2 centuries of experience in dealing with locust swarms. Perhaps we could use some lessons from the past to avert the crisis. Insecticides may give temporary relief during an infestation, but they also endanger the birds that act as natural predators of locusts.
The way ahead lies in state-supported protection of birds including a conscious effort to bring back species like house sparrows that have been disappearing rapidly. Species known to be effective in checking the locust population are pigs, toads, snakes, Ground beetles and
parasitic flies are known to reduce the locust population too.