The locust swarms in India probably won't survive the country's wet season, and be restricted to the nation's deserts, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
The FAO explains that currently, the pests are wreaking havoc on the standing crop in several Indian states, and are likely to re-enter India from Pakistan later this week.
However, later on, the FAO expects them to retreat from various states and settle in the desert area along the India-Pakistan border.
In its latest update on locusts, the FAO has stated that "in Southwest Asia, breeding has ended in southern Iran and southwest Pakistan, where locust infestations are rapidly declining as a result of control operations and migration to the summer breeding areas along the Indo-Pakistan border..."
The FAO further stated that while the 'Spring bred' adult group and swarms of locusts continue to appear along the India-Pakistan border, many of them have continued further into several states of northern India (Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, etc.) because monsoon rains have not yet arrived in the state of Rajasthan.
"These infestations are expected to return to Rajasthan state with the onset of the rains to rapidly mature and lay eggs," the FAO said in its latest update on locusts.
In the last 40 days, India has faced swarms of immature locusts;the bug flies high and can destroy standing crops in multiple states, like Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Odisha.
