08:00, 29 May 2010

Astrakhan Region is at emergency fight on locusts

Under decision of the Emergency Commission under the Government of the Astrakhan Region, the state of emergency has been introduced in the whole territory of the region because of a threat of locust invasion.

The steppe arable lands now see hatching of locust larvae, which threaten agricultural crops. The populated area makes 13,000 hectares, which is above the economic threshold.

In particular, as reported by the "Interfax-South" with reference to operative data of the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, an inspection held in the territory of four districts revealed plenty of egg-pods with larvae of Italian locusts - a most dangerous pest.

According to the "RBC. Southern Region", in case of a failure to conduct special destructive actions against locusts, crops may be completely eaten by them in the area of 50,000 hectares.

See earlier report: "Locusts devastate 90,000 hectares of farmland in Volgograd Region".