Farmers fear losses as locusts look for new croplands in Sindh

HYDERABAD: Swarms of locusts are in transit between the outbreak and invasion areas in many parts of Sindh, and are mostly flying above, descending on some crops and fruit orchards sporadically, Sindh Agriculture Extension Department (SAED) officials said.

SAED official Qamaruddin Solangi, who is monitoring locusts in Khairpur district said, “The intensity is not severe yet, but swarms have damaged leaves of dates, standing crops, and vegetation scattered in Khairpur district.”

Panicked farmers have been using traditional methods to stop the swarms of locusts travelling from different areas.

Last year, locusts entered in Sindh on May 27, 2019, but this year they arrived almost a year late on April 28, 2020.

Muhammad Rahim Lakho, a small-scale grower of Hala New, Matiari district, said, “After the recent attacks by locusts on the newly cultivated cotton crops, which were at growth stage, farmers may prepare again to replant the crop. Locusts attacked the crops, causing destruction at some level.”

This means the farmers would need additional inputs, including seed, machinery, and labour. Even after replanting, the farmers would remain uncertain.

“There is uncertainty, as even after cultivating cotton crop again, we can face another locust attack that will damage the new crop too,” Lakho added. “We received swarms of locusts in the area on Monday (May 4, 2020) and witnessed loss in some places within a few hours.”

The farmer called it an unbearable loss, especially for small-scale farmers, who feared the locust more than the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are looking into how to procure seeds for cotton cultivation in case of further damages. The situation is too volatile, as on one hand we are facing a strict lockdown, which resulted in lower rates of wheat, while on the other hand we have lost a major crop in its initial growth stage due to a natural calamity,” Lakho added.

Though the officials said that damages were not massive and locusts were only in transit, local people in the area said they saw swarms travelling and descending on crops, damaging vegetation, partially.

Sindh Growers Alliance (SGA) President Nawab Zubair Talpur has confirmed loss of crops in many districts and said farmers were preparing to cultivate crops again.

“We asked the provincial government last year to take effective steps and control (locusts) before they spread further. But since then the provincial and federal governments have been at loggerheads over the issue. As a result, agriculturists are facing problems, Talpur said.

The federal plant protection department has been equipped to control locusts through aerial spray, but it was delaying utilising those resources to save the crops in Sindh.

“We have requested the provincial government to provide spray to growers, so they may take initiative to save their crops,” Talpur said.

Desert locusts travel in the agricultural areas of Sindh after every two-three months, frequently ruining crops. Therefore, failure to take control of the situation would result in losses next year as well, he predicted.

Sindh Minister for Agriculture Muhammad Ismail Rahoo had confirmed in his press conference the other day about the presence of locusts on 50,000 sq km in 15 districts of Sindh. “These hoppers may damage all crops standing on about 300,000 acres land,” he alerted.

The minister said aerial spray was the only solution to control it. “If we cannot control it in a timely manner, it may cause colossal loss to the agriculture economy,” Rahoo had said at the conference.

Some researchers in agriculture believed that the emerging threat of locusts in Sindh might cause food crisis if the government authorities failed to control it in time.

People in Sanghar, cotton producing zone of Sindh, have reported swarms of locusts, which appear to be in a transit phase, not descending on crops, but travelling in other directions.