Someone Set up a DJ Booth in a Field to Fight Off the Locusts

It seems like the country can’t catch a break from all the environmental problems it is facing—a cyclone, forest fires, floods, and also its worst locust attack in decades, and all of this amid a pandemic. Government officials and farm experts say desert locusts have engulfed over 35,000 hectares in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh since entering India on April 11

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This time desert locust attack is severe. They have arrived earlier, in huge numbers & now reached till Panna in MP. The changing climate conditions are linked with locust growth in east Africa. The swarms has potential of eating everything & destroy the crops. This from Panna. pic.twitter.com/8aqLa8lA4O

— Parveen Kaswan (@ParveenKaswan) May 26, 2020

But now, people have started coming up with creative solutions to battle what the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations considers the most devastating migratory pest species in the world. In a video posted by a senior inspector from Uttar Pradesh, a DJ booth set-up can be seen in the middle of the fields to ward off the locusts. The tweet can roughly be translated to, “DJ booths can not only be used for music and dancing but also to fight the locust swarms. Times change. You can make noises from your mouth or bang utensils as well.”

डीजे सिर्फ़ नाच गाने के लिये ही नहीं बल्कि टिड्डी दल भगाने में भी कारगर होता है ।

दिन सबके बदलते हैं !

आप मुँह से आवाज़ निकाल सकते हैं या थाली भी पीट सकते हैं ।#DiscJockey #Locustswarm #locustswarms #Locusts #Locustsattack #LocustInvasion #LocustSwarmsAttack pic.twitter.com/zUcpYiJTGb

— RAHUL SRIVASTAV (@upcoprahul) May 27, 2020

Officials in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have also arranged water tankers, disinfectants and pesticides to drive away locusts from attacking their farms. Farmers have also been advised to beat drums and utensils (probably inspired by prime minister Modi’s ideas of thanking healthcare workers), while the fire brigades and police vehicles have been asked to blow sirens to ward off the pests. “Locusts can be scared away by producing noise by beating of drums and utensils,” agriculture scientist Jainendra Kanaujia was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “Chemicals, especially Chlorpyriphos 20 EC diluted in water, can be sprinkled on crops. There is a possibility of great damage to the crops due to locusts.”

Locusts have arrived in the villages of Depalpur area and are damaging the crops. The locust party is moving towards Betma via village Takipura. Farmers are raising efforts to drive them away by making noises from firecrackers and utensils.#MadhyaPradesh #locustattack pic.twitter.com/vMLnHGLHre

— Mojo Story (@themojostory) May 21, 2020

Locusts can eat food equal to their body weight every day and a single swarm can finish food for as many as 2,500 people in a single day. They also breed with very high fertility in a geometrical pattern, and in just three breeding seasons, can increase their population size by an insane amount of 16,000 times. The pests pose a threat to livelihood, food security, environment, and economic development and need to be dealt with extreme urgency and care.

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