By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 02, 2020: Odisha government on Tuesday alerted more than six lakh farmers of the possible locust attack through WhatsApp. Besides, it informed another eight lakh cultivators of the situation through SMS.

It has identified nine districts, bordering Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, vulnerable to possible locust invasion. Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Jharsuguda, Sundergarh and Bargarh districts have been identified as the vulnerable places where locusts could cause damage, particularly the paddy cultivation.

The state government is working with the neighbouring States to constantly monitor the movement of locust swarms, agriculture and farmer empowerment special secretary S K Vashist said.

In a meeting held at the Chief Minister’s Office, it was decided to use fire tenders for spraying insecticide. It was also been decided to keep a constant vigil for at least the next 10 days.

The locusts may also cause damage to vegetable plantations and trees, the official said.

However, the swarm of locust entered neighbouring Chhattisgarh on Monday, but they are understood to have returned back to Madhya Pradesh.

But this does not mean that Odisha is full proof of possible locust attack.

In fact, the State government has not ruled out the possibility of their invasion of Odisha, another senior official who attended the meeting said. State and district-level control rooms have been set up to monitor the situation, he added.

At least 6.5 lakhs of farmers have been alerted of the possible locust attack through WhatsApp, another eight lakh cultivators are kept informed of the situation through SMS.

The State government has advised farmers not to panic over the situation and suggested them to take precautions.

The Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) has also issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with possible invasion of locusts.