DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS
28 May, 2020
10 Min Read
Introduction
Just last week, eastern India was battered by one of the most powerful cyclones in decades and now, even as hundreds of lives are lost every day to the coronavirus, another danger lurks on the nation’s west.
Agrarian Disaster
A burgeoning locust swarm in Rajasthan, Gujarat and even parts of Madhya Pradesh threatens to amplify into an agrarian disaster.
The desert locust, as a species, is the bane of agriculture. Monitoring and tackling periodic outbreaks of the marauding insects are among the objectives of the Locust Warning Organization (LWO) in Jodhpur.
Data: There were 13 locust upsurges from 1964 to 1997, and after 2010 there was “no large scale breeding” reported.
Once a significant outbreak starts, it lasts for about two years, and then there is a quietus for about eight years.
LWO officials say that the swarm building up is potentially the “worst in decades”.
The East Punjab Agricultural Pests, Diseases and Noxious Weeds Act, 1949, has a provision whereby a District Collector can “...call upon any male person not below the age of 14 years resident in the district to render all possible assistance ...” and there is potential imprisonment for failure to abide by the law.
Reasons for this Locusts swarm
The breeding locusts which threaten farming are an indirect fallout of the warming Indian Ocean, as some meteorologists suggest.
Last year, there were fears that the monsoon may fall short because of an El Niño, or warming of the Equatorial Pacific. However there was an extreme flip. By July it was evident that a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, or relatively higher temperature in the western Indian Ocean, was in the works.
This led to record-breaking rainfall in India as well as in eastern Africa.
But moist African deserts precipitated locust breeding and favourable rain-bearing winds aided their transport towards India.
On the other hand, coronavirus quarantines meant that routine coordination activities involving India, Pakistan and Afghanistan regarding spraying pesticides were halted.
Forecasts are for good rains in Rajasthan, and, paradoxically, conducive conditions for locust breeding during the sowing season.
Way Ahead
Source: TH
Recently, Prime Minister announced Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana under which 1 crore households will get rooftop solar power systems. India’s Status of Current Solar Capacity India currently stands at 4th place globally in solar power capacity. As per Ministry of New an
The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) registration of two prominent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) — Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and World Vision India (WVI) have been cancelled this month. What is FCRA? Key provisions of FCRA, 2010 Key aspects Description
Voice clone fraud has been on the rise in India. AI voice cloning – It is the process of creating a synthetic replica of a person’s voice through machine learning and speech synthesis technology.It is called as voice deepfakesor audio deepfakes. Objective – To achieve a high level of na
Steps taken by India to promote Science Communication Publications and Information Directorate (PID) - An organisation under Council of Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) established in 1951 for publishing and disseminating scientific information in India. National science magazines- The PI
Universal Basic Income (UBI) can strengthen welfare architecture and unlock the nation’s latent demographic potential. UBI - It is an income support mechanism typically intended to reach all or a very large portion of the population regardless of their earnings or employment status. Objective- To provide enough to co
Our Popular Courses
Module wise Prelims Batches
Mains Batches
Test Series
Copyright 2023 CLT TECHNOLOGIES AND EDU-PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED. All rights reserved.