Recently, swarms of locusts from the western end of India entered several areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan in India. These locusts destroyed the crops of wheat, potato, mustard, cumin, fennel, jatropha, and cotton. The impact of locust infestation was witnessed in the region of Mehsana, Kutch, Patan, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha of Gujarat and Barmer, Jodhpur, Sriganganagar, Jalore, Hanumangarh and Chiru districts of Rajasthan.
To tackle this infestation, the governments of these two states collaborated with UPL in support of the farmers. UPL’s ultramodern Falcon machine from Adarsh Farm Services was used to control the locusts effectively.
Chlorpyrifos, DDVP [Dichlorvos (2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate, commonly abbreviated as a DDVP], and pesticides containing its mixture were sprayed because of which these locusts were destroyed over a massive area within a short span of time
The agility of UPL did not only save the growing crops of the farmers, but it also saved farmers from a massive economic loss. Farmers have now started prioritizing DDVP instead of other pesticides because only DDVP possesses the potential to eliminate locusts.
UPL, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, controlled locusts in two ways. Firstly, when these locusts preyed on the crops and secondly, by spraying crop protection chemicals on them at their resting places like trees, barren land, etc. Both efforts were successful.
In such a scenario, DDVP and its mixture have proved that it’s an effective arsenal against locust attacks. DDVP safeguarded farmers from massive economic losses, and it also saved thousands of tonnes of grains. If DDVP had not been used on time, then locusts would have caused havoc in the other neighborhood areas as well.
DDVP is a pesticide developed after many years of research, which farmers in India have been using with considerable success for many years. Behind its success is DDVP’s unique knock-down (lethal) attack method, which slays locusts through a single spray.
Jaswant Singh Brar, Agricultural Officer, Sri Ganganagar informed that there were many locust outbreaks in the area of Anupgarh for three to four days. To control this, the Agriculture Department, as well as the farmers and the UPL team, contributed massively, because of which these locusts were liquidated on time. The team of UPL provided enormous support by spraying pesticides with their Falcon machines.
