Iran Pounded By Swarms Of Locusts, Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

The large swarms of desert locusts that have invaded much of east Africa and the Arabian peninsula have now entered southern Iran, leading government officials to state that they can only handle the swarms with the use of pesticides, according to Radio Farda. The swarms come as the Islamic Republic also battles with a severe coronavirus outbreak in which over 90 people have died.

The swarms have entered the provinces of Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Bushehr, Fars and Khuzestan, according to Reza Mir, Spokesman of the Plant Protection Organization. "The density of locusts in the swarms is so high that a 10 to 15-centimeter layer of dead locusts forms on the ground after spraying pesticides," said Mir, according to Radio Farda.

Biological methods to handle the swarms are ineffective due to the size of the swarms and time constraints involved. "Allowing the pests to [recreate] is much more damaging than the side-effects of using chemical pesticides," explained Mir. Over one million hectares of agricultural lands may be sprayed this year. The number of locusts is predicted to be seven-fold compared with the swarms last year, according to Keykhosrow Changalvai, Head of the Agricultural Jihad Organization of the south-western province of Khuzestan. -Full Report

Locust populations continue to explode in size: Some areas expecting a 400x increase in the coming months representing an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods