Tuesday, June 30, 2020

India presses helicopters services to control 'टिड्डी - Terror attack'


India presses helicopters to control 'Locust- Terror attack'

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

Union Agriculture Ministry has pressed Helicopter services to control Locust attack in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, which are going to be most affected by the desert locust swarms coming from Somalia.

The Bell choppers took his first flight on July 5 from Jaisalmer base and spray chemicals in Rajasthan to control the further spread of Locust swarms.

The helicopters would be initially stationed at Air Force Station at Uttarlai, Barmer to cover the Jodhpur Division in Rajasthan where the Locust swarms would come from Somalia would come to lay eggs and breed to produce the third generation locusts. If these swarms if not destroyed in time would flew to Haryana, UP, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra.


In case the winds are strong they might reach Nepal, Bihar or the bordering areas of West Bengal, locust experts told the Agriculture Ministry. The single-pilot helicopter Bell 206-B3 can carry 250 litres of pesticide in one trip and would cover 25 to 50 hectare in one flight. Though the use of a helicopter is common in African or Middle East countries, it is for the first time that India is using the helicopter to spray locusts.


India is still waiting for 5 aerial spraying machines, which it had ordered to the UK based company. Once it received those sophisticated machines, it would be deployed in an Indian Air Force helicopter and pressed into operation for Locust control.


So far operation conducted by the centre and state governments have controlled locust in nearly 2.33 lakh hectares in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Bihar.

“Except Rajasthan, no significant crop losses have been reported in the States of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Haryana” said a senior officer of the Agriculture Ministry.

The Locust warning team of UN Food and Agriculture Organization has informed India that swarms from northern Somalia are likely to migrate across the Indian Ocean to the breeding areas along the Indo-Pakistan border. In Pakistan, swarms have already started laying eggs in Sindh and swarms are present in the Indus Valley.



Operation till JULY 5

·        Presently 60 control teams with spray vehicles are deputed /deployed in State of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh more than 200 Central Government personnel are engaged in locust control operations. Further, 5 companies with 12 drones are deployed at Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Nagaur and Phalodi in Rajasthan for effective control of locusts on tall trees and in inaccessible areas through spraying of pesticides. India is the first Country who is using drones for locust control

·        On 21st May, 2020 MoCA granted conditional exemption to the Government Entity for use of remotely Piloted Air Craft System for anti-locust operations subject to various terms and conditions. Further, on 27th June, 2020, MoCA further relaxed the terms and conditions and permitted the use of engine-powered drone up to 50kg and use of drones during night times also for anti-locust operations

·        As per the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Locust Status Update of 03.07,2020, many of the spring-bred swarms that migrated to Indo-Pak border before the monsoon rains, some continued east to northern states of India and a few groups reached Nepal. The forecast is that these swarms will return to Rajasthan with the start of the monsoon in the coming days to join other swarms still arriving from Iran and Pakistan, which is expected to be supplemented by swarms from The Horn of Africa in about mid-July. Early breeding has already occurred along the Indo-Pak border where substantial hatching and band formation will take place in July that will cause the first-generation summer swarms to form in mid-August

·        Weekly virtual meeting on Desert Locust of South-West Asian countries (Afghanistan, India, Iran and Pakistan) is being organised by FAO. 15 virtual meetings of the technical officers of South-West Asian countries have taken place so far


 

Ends.


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