Friday, July 24, 2020

Europe Panics As Huge Swarm Of Locusts Invades Italy

Europe Panics as Worst Swarm of Locusts for 70 Years Invades Sardinia, Italy

Millions of locusts have caused devastation after descending on Sardinia.

Several mayors in the region declared a state of natural disaster and called for immediate action.





Worst locust plague in 70 years invades Sardinia, Italy. Picture La Republica


In a situation reminiscent of a biblical plague, voracious locusts have stripped large areas of the island’s agricultural regions of crops, in what the World Bank has already been branded the most serious such invasion the world has faced in 70 years.


The epicentre is formed by the municipalities of Orani, Ottana and Bolotana in the Tirso valley, with insects having arrived from the Middle East and Africa, where 23 countries have experienced similar problems.
Farmers have limited options when it comes to mitigating the damage caused by the vast numbers of locusts, other than burning fields to destroy the pests.
Franco Saba, Mayor of Ottana, said: “Current damages must be compensated and preventive action has taken place to prevent the phenomenon from happening again in the next few years.
With the situation still unfolding, the cost of the damage is still unknown – but Mr Saba suggested it would run into millions of euros.
Speaking in April, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said coronavirus-linked flight restrictions were hampering efforts to wipe out locust swarms on the verge of devastating crops in eastern Africa, which, partly as a result, have spread to Europe.

Cyril Ferrand, FAO’s head of resilience for Eastern Africa, said: “If we fail in the current control operations, because of lack of pesticides, then we could see four million more people struggle to feed their families.
He warned: “They are very active, very voracious, and very mobile.

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