Indigenous variety of locusts spring up in TN

While upcountry States like Rajasthan are grappling with the locust menace which has destroyed hundreds of acres of standing crop in the desert State, certain districts of Tamil Nadu are up against a new problem.

Despite assurances that the locusts from across the Vindhyas will not reach the State, its various districts like Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and the border one of Kanyakumari are facing a local variety of locusts, which has begun to worry the farmers.

While a few of them have begun protest moves, officials of the Horticulture Department have assured them that this locust is not as menacing as that of the Rajasthan one. It seems that they are readymade food for rodents and birds which inhabit the fields.

The officials have asked the farmers not to use pesticide spray to end their menace as they are useful in many ways. Further efforts are being taken to assuage the worries of the ryots by the officials.