By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, July 13: Swarms of locusts have reached Pyuthan district flying from Dang.

A huge swarm of locusts which appeared in Dang Sunday reached at Bijuwar of Pyuthan Municipality of Pyuthan district on Monday, said Ram Krishana Subedi, information officer of Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management Centre.

As per the information received from technical team of Pyuthan, a group of locusts have again flown toward Rolpa district from Pyuthan Municipality of Pyuthan district by afternoon, he informed.

Likewise, another swarm of locusts was still staying at Swargadwari Municipality of Pyuthan district.

According to Subedi, there was no appearance of locusts in Dang district today.

He said that there was no significant losses caused by locusts in Dang and Pyuthan till the date as farmers and local people were chasing locusts by producing noise beating utensils.

He said that local of Triveni Rural Municipality of Nawalparsi had informed the local agricultural office about appearance of locusts there.

The technical team of agricultural office has tried to confirm the situation of locusts and their activities.

Stating that the swarms of locusts have again appeared in Jumla, he said that it was no new arrival of new swarms but the previous swarms becoming active after stoppage of the rainfall there.

Preparation to control locusts begins in Jumla

According to our Jumla correspondent, District Administration Office, Jumla, has begun its preparation to control the locusts and its impact on crops.

After the locusts appeared in the district, emergency meeting was held at the office with the participation of agricultural experts and technicians to minimise the possible losses caused by the locusts.

Chief of Agriculture Development Office of Jumla district, Balaram Devkota, said that they had discussed with the experts and concerned stakeholders to control locusts and its impact on agricultural crops along with ensuring food security.

He said that locust swarms reached Jumla via Dolpa and farmers were chasing locust by producing noise beating utensils and burning woods to make smoke.

Senior Agriculture Development Officer and chief of Apple Super Zone of Jumla, Nabaraj Bhandari, said that locusts in thousanda had appeared in the district.

He said that preparedness was a must to control locust even though they had not damaged crops significantly in the country.

Chief District Officer of Jumla, Bhupendra Thapa, said that they had decided to establish information desk at District Administration Office (DAO) to exchange information and update status of locusts in the district.

He said that they would utilize the media for enhancing awareness among the farmers to chase locusts by using locally available technicians.

CDO Thapa urged the local authorities and farmers to be alert to save crops from locusts as the locusts had started to damage crops including paddy, potatoes, maize, beans and apples.