久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Asia-Pacific

Locusts feast on India's woes as swarms spread

By ARUNAVA DAS in Kolkata, India | China Daily | Updated: 2020-06-09 09:36
Share
Share - WeChat

Hit by disease and wild weather, country stretched in battle with insect invaders

As if the coronavirus outbreak, the resultant lockdown and Cyclone Amphan that recently ravaged parts of the country were not enough, India finds itself imperiled by thick swarms of desert locusts.

A swarm of desert locusts flies over a ranch near the town of Nanyuki in Laikipia county, Kenya, February 21, 2020. Picture taken February 21, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

Swathes of farmland in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab are being invaded by millions of the pests on a crop-devouring spree, potentially ruining food supplies.

Keith Cressman, senior locust forecasting officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, of the United Nations, said there have been movements of adult locusts in India, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Uganda in recent days.

"Successive waves of invasions can be expected until July in Rajasthan (bordering Pakistan) with eastward surges across northern India followed by westward movements and a return to Rajasthan on the changing winds associated with the monsoon," Cressman said.

Much of these movements were associated with strong westerly winds from Cyclone Amphan in the Bay of Bengal, he said.

India has struggled to curb the spread of the pandemic. It has reported fresh highs in the number of confirmed infections, of about 9,000 a day over the past days, pushing the total to 258,090 by Monday, according to a tally kept by the Johns Hopkins University.

The locusts, though not a new phenomenon, worry experts this time because of the frequency and ferocity of their attacks.

The swarms, which are the thickest and the largest in two and a half decades, are aided by frequent cyclones, unusually warm weather, and more rain-all offshoots of climate change, said Sunita Narain, director-general of the New Delhi-based research organization Centre for Science and Environment, also works as a think tank.

"We must try and understand what is happening, and why it is happening … why this huge scourge of locusts is linked to climate change," Narain said.

Noticeable change

"In fact, there has been a noticeable change in the way invasions are happening. Much of this can be ascribed to unseasonal rainfall, not just in India but in other breeding grounds."

More rain in deserts, and more vegetation, make a perfect breeding ground for these creatures, she said. "And the monsoon was quite prolonged last year."

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu has warned that things will get worse. Juvenile locusts will become voracious adults in June just as farmers begin to harvest, compounding an already bleak outlook for food security.

Qu also noted that recent heavy rains have created ideal conditions for the pest's reproduction in several countries, including India and Pakistan.

Increasing cyclone activity in the Indian Ocean could be a trend that will result in heavy rains in the Arabian Peninsula and parts of Africa, and that, in turn, is leading to more desert locust upsurges, he noted in an FAO statement.

In a highly interdependent world, Narain said, "we urgently require a global consensus and framework to combat the menace".

Cressman called for coordinated and concerted action.

He said national locust authorities in Iran, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan are in touch through weekly video calls under FAO guidance.

Meanwhile, pesticides are being used for controlling the movement of locusts, prompting some experts to point out that a few pesticides are extremely toxic. "Not only can they harm humans, they can also impact soil fertility and crops," said G.V. Ramanjaneyulu, executive director at the Hyderabad-based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.

Ashok Gulati, professor for agriculture at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, an economic policy think tank, said that fortunately, most of the crops have been harvested, which means less severe losses.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 在线成人免费 | 韩国日本一级毛片免费视频 | 久久久久日韩精品无 | 亚洲一区二区影视 | 成人高清毛片a | 成熟的女性强烈交性视频 | 1204国产成人精品视频 | 欧美色视频日本片免费高清 | 日韩欧美国产一区二区三区 | 欧美成人全部费免网站 | 亚洲国产精品二区久久 | 欧美第一页草草影院浮力 | 国内自产拍自a免费毛片 | 久草免费在线 | 三级毛片免费看 | 久久成人免费大片 | 日韩精品在线一区 | 国内精品伊人久久 | 精品日韩在线视频一区二区三区 | 国产成人高清精品免费观看 | 欧美在线综合视频 | 欧美视频在线观在线看 | 一级特黄国产高清毛片97看片 | 成人一级网站 | 亚洲美色综合天天久久综合精品 | 欧美一区二区三区视频在线观看 | 日韩午夜视频在线观看 | 久久精品a | 北条麻妃在线一区二区 | 久污 | 欧美一级成人影院免费的 | 99国产成人高清在线视频 | 精品久久久久久无码中文字幕 | 国产黄色片一级 | 免费在线一区二区三区 | 日本亚洲高清 | 三级网站在线 | 欧美一级片播放 | 欧美日韩ay在线观看 | 越南高清幻女bbwxxxx | 中文字幕亚洲精品日韩精品 |