Viral Video: UP Farmer Plays DJ Music To Scare Away Locusts!

LUCKNOW: At least five states in India including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are currently facing threat of crop destruction due to massive locust attack.
As the menace is becoming too difficult to handle, many farmers took to their fields to bang plates and play loud music. A video of DJ setup with loudspeakers in the middle of an agricultural field to prevent locust attack went viral on social media.

Rahul Srivatsav, a senior police officer from Uttar Pradesh shared a video clipping of a vehicle fitted with a loud speaker. The vehicle is seen playing loud music in the middle of the field. According to sources, this setup was done to protect the crop from locusts.

The police official posted the video with the caption "DJs (disc jockeys) are not only for singing and dancing... They are also effective in scaring away armies of locusts. Everyone sees a new morning... You can also bang utensils or make noise to scare them away," the tweet posted in Hindi reads as quoted by a section of the media.
Soumitra Dasgupta, Inspector General, Wildlife, Ministry of Environment said it is the desert locust which has attacked India in huge numbers and may lead to crop losses.

Locusts are a regular feature in the country but this attack is huge,” Dasgupta said.

According to the Union Environment ministry, the swarms of locusts are currently active in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Rajasthan is currently the worst-affected state.

“Desert locusts have arrived in western India. It is a regular feature in the country but it happens on a very small scale. This attack is huge. It is a once-in-a-three-decade situation and timed very badly for us as we are already dealing with coronavirus.” Dasgupta added.