Locust Attack in Tamil Nadu? What TN Govt Says?

The locust attack in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have raised concerns especially among farmers across the country. Tamil Nadu too had apprehensions about the same but the State Agriculture department officials ensured that there will be no threat to Tamil Nadu. 

Nevertheless, the state is preparing itself to face any eventuality in advance and hence the department has released an advisory on how to contain the locust menace. 

“Tamil Nadu government has discussed the issue with the senior officers of the Government of India and the scientists of the Locust Warning Centre. They assure that it will not cross Vindhya Sathpura mountains. In the past, the locusts never spread beyond the Deccan Plateau. Hence, we assess that there are very remote chances of locust swarm attack in Tamil Nadu. However, we are constantly monitoring the locust swarm movement,” a top official of the State government told The New Indian Express. 

Spraying neem- based pesticides, mass ground spray of Malathion pesticides, spraying the bio pesticide metarhizium anisopliae are some of the measures suggested by the department to eliminate this menace. 

Birds and poultry birds which eat locust could also be effective in controlling the locust swarms.