IMPHAL, July 12 – Even as the people of Manipur are trying to grapple with the problem of shortage of food grains in the market, locust invasion and subsequent havoc on paddy fields in the recent past have made the situation grim.
The villagers of a remote Ukhrul village have been running from pillar to post to get the necessary help after their paddy fields have been attacked by swarms of locusts in the recent past. The standing crops of the village have been destroyed last month by the locusts. The Ramson Khuthak village is about 70 km south-east of here.
N Ramhenrhing, headman of Khunthak village said that after the paddy has been sown and started to sprout, swarms of locusts attacked the plants leaving the fields barren since the last few weeks.
The livelihood of these villagers numbering around 250 are at risk as they solely depend on the annual agriculture products.
Each household in the village used to harvest around 200 to 250 tins of paddy from their fields in a year. But the recent damage in their fields has put the villagers in misery.
This is not the first time that the swarms of locusts have attacked the State’s paddy fields. Earlier, the pests have damaged the paddy fields of Tamenglong and Thoubal districts as well at the time of harvest.
The State Agriculture department, is however, yet to study the situation and find out whether the invading locusts are of destructive type or not.