Jodhpur: Since May, farmers in western Rajasthan have been badly hit by locust attack. Many Kharif and Rabi crops have been damaged under threat of locus attacks, even after district authorities working on combating the menace by sprinkling pesticides.
A week before, the farmers of Barmer whose crops have been ravaged due to a locust attack, and now with the direction of the wind, the locust has entered the Luni village of Jodhpur.
Along with Luni village, a nearby Ajit village of Barmar has also been affected.
The farmers have faced heavy losses as locust has ravaged oilseeds, cumin seeds, which is one of the expensive seeds was destroyed overnight.
Moreover, farmers say that the government pesticides are not sufficient enough to protect it from the locust attack.
Teams carrying equipment have been rushed to the villages to spray high-intensity malathion insecticide to prevent the spread of locusts to other areas.
The villagers are taking all the efforts from playing music to staying up all night to protest their field.
"No such attack has taken place in our fields in the past 15 years. But this time the locusts have destroyed all our crops. We demand the government to give us electricity and to waive off loans. The government should also give us some compensation so that we can survive," said a farmer.
In the month of December 2019, the locusts, known as tiddis locally, had wreaked havoc on standing crops of castor, cumin, jatropha, cotton, and potato, and fodder grass in around 20 talukas.
Also Read: Yet another locust invasion in Kutch district of Gujarat
