Kohima: Swarms of locusts invading crops and other vegetation in the upper reaches of Dimapur district has caused a high alarm for the scientists and officials of the Nagaland Agriculture Department, which may spread fast to the other parts of the state.
According to official sources, a highly ravenous breed of locusts had been observed in some parts of Dimapur district sending alarm bells ringing among agriculture researchers of Nagaland.
Swarms of ‘Aularches miliaris’, of the family ‘pyrgomorphidae’ in the order orthoptera, commonly known as Spotted Locusts, had been found feeding on plantations in the upper reaches of the Dimapur district beyond Medziphema.
The Dimapur Agriculture officials of the district on Monday showed to the media specimens of the locusts caught at a cashew plantation between Piphema and Pherima of the district.
The immediate worry was that there was not much literature on the habits and habitats of the pests, more importantly on controlling its spread and not helped by the fact that these thumb-sized locusts were uneatable for the local people.
The species is not new to mankind but the degree of damage the spotted locusts can cause on crops was first recorded back in 1925 in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon).
Migratory in nature, the pests were observed to appear in warm climes in the tropical and sub-tropical regions, the officials said.
An Entomologist of the District Agriculture Office, Dimapur said the Department was informed of the ‘unusual grasshoppers’ appearing in swarms by farmers a few days back.
Quoting the observation of the farmers, the researcher said that the pests were first noticed in the area about three years back growing in number with each passing year.
One striking characteristic of the species is its defence mechanism, which wards off natural predators and even humans. The District Agriculture Office conceded it is not prepared to deal with this kind of pests as it is new to the region. (UNI)