IT’S MAY 27. A few minutes past 11 am. Down To Earth reporters had just arrived in Pachgaon village, Dholpur district, Rajasthan, to enquire about desert locusts that are crossing over to India way ahead of the monsoon rain and invading new areas. As if on cue, a huge swarm, resembling a long rust-colored low cloud, appeared from nowhere. It quickly swelled forward, taking over the sky and nearly obliterating the desert sun. Bewildered, the residents ran out of their homes and gathered in the open. But before they could get a grasp on the situation, millions of locusts started falling like hail and clung to everything that looked green. Within no minutes, the trees and bushes turned into ragged mounds of glistening brown. Some leaned over to touch the ground—tropical grasshoppers weigh about 2-2.5 gram. A few youngsters took photographs as the others stood motionless.
It was for the first time the residents had seen something like this. Soon the severity of the situation dawned on them. Some residents fetched their utensils and started beating and banging them. Ram Babu, a farmworker in his 60s, rushed to his farm to scare away the pests with a piece of cloth. He repeated the exercise for almost an hour in the 46 o Cheat. “I saw on the news yesterday about locust attacks in Jaipur, but did not think they would attack our village too,” he said, trying to call the landowner to inform him about the attack.
The nervous clamour of people did not let the swarm stay in the village for more than 40 minutes. But during that short period, Babu lost almost one-fourth of his pumpkin crop planted on 3.5 bigha (0.3 ha) land. Peepul, babool and keekar (Prosopis juliflora) trees looked queer with almost bare branches and punctured leaves.
Denne historien er fra June 16, 2020-utgaven av Down To Earth.
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Denne historien er fra June 16, 2020-utgaven av Down To Earth.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A SPRIG TO CARE FOR
Punarnava, a perennial herb, is easy to grow and has huge health benefits
DIGGING A DISASTER
Soapstone mining near Dabti Vijaypur village has caused many residents to migrate.
REVIEW THE TREATMENT
Several faecal sludge treatment plants in Uttar Pradesh suffer from design flaws that make the treatment process both expensive and inefficient
MAKE STEEL SUSTAINABLE
As India works to double its GDP by 2030, its steel industry must balance growth with sustainability. By embracing policies like the Steel Scrap Recycling Policy 2019 and adopting green technologies, India is paving the way for a more sustainable future in steel production
Can ANRF pull off the impossible for India?
Anusandhan National Research Foundation is expected to reorient India's innovation goals but funding issues, old mindsets remain a drag
TROUBLED WOODS
Forests are a great bulwark against climate change. But this is fast changing. AKSHIT SANGOMLA travels through some of the pristine patches of the Western Ghats to explore how natural disturbances triggered by global warming now threaten the forest health
BLINDING GLOW
The science is clear: increased illumination has damaging consequences for the health of humans, animals and plants. It’s time governments introduced policies to protect the natural darkness and improved the quality of outdoor lighting.
GROUND REALITY
What happens when the soil loses the ability to grow healthy, high-yield crops on its own?
GM POLICY MUST BE FARMER CENTRIC
On July 23, the Supreme Court of India directed the Union government to develop a national policy on genetically modified (GM) crops for research, cultivation, trade and commerce through public consultation.
Vinchurni's Gandhi
A 96-year-old farmer transforms barren land into a thriving forest in drought-prone region of Satara
