Swarms of locusts now enter Bhandara district from Nagpur

Nagpur: Swarms of locusts that had entered Katol and Parseoni in Nagpur district of Maharashtra over the last four days, have now moved to the neighbouring Bhandara district, an agriculture department official said.

These crop-eating pests moved to Mohadi tehsil in Bhandara district during the day on Wednesday, before being spotted in Temani village in Tumsar taluka by late night, Divisional Joint Director of Agriculture Department, Ravi Bhosle told PTI.

"The swarms of locusts on Wednesday moved to Mohadi in Bhandara district and were spotted in two villages in that tehsil. By around 10 pm, the locusts were spotted in Temani village in the district," he said.

The swarms stretching up to 17 kms in length had first entered farms in Fetri, Khangaon in Katol in Nagpur district and in Ashti taluka in Wardha district on Saturday night and Sunday where they damaged orange crop and vegetable plantations in some areas, before moving towards Parseoni tehsil on Monday night.

Besides tracking the movement of locusts, officials are now trying to displace the pest from agricultural fields, the official said.

"We have started 'Operation Locust Control' by spraying pesticides through fire tenders and flood lights," he said.