Millions of locusts are devouring the crops of the countryside of the province of Nuoro on Sardinia. They are affecting 25,000 hectares of land.
Coldiretti sounded the alarm on the insect invasion. From Noragugume to Bolotana, and onto Illorai, Olzai, Teti, Sarule and Sedilo, the locusts are eating their way through thousands of hectares of crops and vegetable gardens.
Since they are polyphagous, Coldiretti says, they affect not only crops in the field, but also vegetable gardens and gardens. It is a biological catastrophe that is bringing hundreds of companies and farms to their knees.
How to stop the locusts
The only effective weapon to counteract the invasion is completely biological with natural predators, such as birds. They could help contain the populations of locusts that started their onslaught from uncultivated lands, abandoned due to the countryside crisis. In many cases, the cost of production is higher than the prices received agricultural products.
The grasshoppers lay their eggs in June, preferably in uncultivated land. To remove them, a study by the University of Sassari suggests, a deep ploughing is not necessary, a superficial movement of the earth would suffice.
In fact, Coldiretti had promptly proposed a superficial working of the land as a solution, an operation that would already be sufficient to destroy a large part of the eggs. The use of chemicals is considered obsolete and ineffective.
Climate conditions facilitated locust growth
The climatic conditions facilitate an anomalous development of this insect. With a mild winter, practically halved rainfall, and temperatures 0.5 degrees higher than the average, insects such as locusts will multiply.
These are also the effects of climate change that on a global level, Coldiretti concludes, have favoured the return of “biblical invasions” on many continents. In addition, there’s also the spread of alien insects in Italy that cause damage of at least €1 billion per year.
The land uncultivated land needs to be turned over soon, because with the arrival of heat, the eggs will hatch and the number of locusts multiply.
