Indian States Urge Narendra Modi to Ally With Pakistan in Fight Against Locusts

New Delhi (Sputnik): Tropical locusts, according to reports, are entering India’s Rajasthan and Gujarat states from deserted areas of Pakistan and destroying crops. Despite several measures undertaken by the state governments, the locust’s menace is mounting, causing losses to helpless farmers.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlo of the Indian state of Rajasthan has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s urgent help in tackling a veritable plague of locusts, which has left a lot of farmers helpless and despondent.

Rajasthan’s chief minister, in a letter to Prime Minister Modi, has suggested that the central government should coordinate with Pakistan and other neighbouring countries to control the pests in their respective countries.

In the letter, the chief minister has also sought to draw the prime minister’s attention to farmers’ losses due to the locust swarms and explains how badly their crops have been destroyed. He has also implored the central government to take decisive action.

In the last few weeks, the agriculture departments of two of the westernmost Indian states (Rajasthan and Gujarat), which share a border with Pakistan, have informed their respective state governments that crops spread over several thousand hectares have been affected due to the swarms of locusts. Mustard, castor, funnel and wheat crops are worst-affected.

The state governments have formed several teams of experts, who are directing farmers to use several measures to protect their crops while exploring the possibility of using drones to spray pesticides over the fields.

Sourse: sputniknews.com