Farmers in Mustang worry as locusts destroy their crops

Pokhara, August 22

Locusts have been destroying crops cultivated in a huge swathe of land in Mustang’s Thasang Rural Municipality.

According to local farmers, the trend of locusts entering the district hasn’t stopped.

“Since mid-July, tens of millions of locusts have entered the district and they are seen at different places, destroying crops,” said Thasang RM Agricultural Technical Assistant Ram Sharan Sapkota.

As the farmers here have started using pesticides to kill the pests, the rural municipality has started a campaign to eliminate the insects in an environmentally friendly way. “As use of pesticide and insecticide is dangerous for humans and the environment, we have started a campaign to control the pests by asking farmers to collect locusts for money,” said Sapkota.

The rural municipality has offered 100 rupees per kilogram of locusts to the farmers. “Ever since we offered to buy the pests from farmers, they have collected 2,700 kg of locusts,” said Thasang RM chief administrative officer Santosh KC.

Feature Image: File

A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 23, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.