As Kerala keeps a sharp lookout for locust swarms that have been ravaging farmlands elsewhere in the country, it is interesting to note that these ravenous pests have, albeit on rare occasions, gifted nightmares to farmers here.
Instances of locust attacks have been extremely rare in this part of the country, but documents indicate that past governments may have encountered the pesky problem now and then.
The official report of the second budget session of the fourth Cochin Legislative Council held on August 4, 1936, offers this nugget titled ‘Outbreak of locust pest in Nemmara Firkah.’ The matter was raised in the council by R. Viswanathan Chettiar who wanted to know whether there was an outbreak in the paddy fields in Nemmara, and if so, what steps had the government taken to contain it.
K. Krishna Warriar, who replied for the government, confirmed that there indeed was an outbreak “in Vrischigam last.” “The Agricultural Inspector and the Entomologist were ordered to carry out the control measures. The methods were demonstrated in the infected fields and the ryots in the adjoining fields were advised to carry out similar measures,” Mr. Krishna Warriar is quoted as saying in the council proceedings.
Assembly records
Kerala Assembly documents for November, 1983, and July, 1997, too mention locust attacks in Udumbanchola taluk and Kizhakke Mattukada, near Kattappana. In the first instance, cardamom crop came under attack, and in the second, pepper, cardamom, coffee, rubber and banana.
That said, agriculture experts feel that the villains in many of the reported ‘invasions’ in Kerala were probably coffee locusts (Aularches miliaris) rather than the desert locust (a species of short-horned grasshopper of the family Acrididae) that now menaces many Indian States.
Major attack
However, in 1954, Kerala did face the desert locust and it was documented. That year, apparently, the monsoon had been weak and wind patterns were favourable to locust movement. In a new report urging the Agriculture Department to keep close tabs on the national-level scenario, the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) has recalled this particular instance. “This was documented as the major attack in Kerala. Sightings of locust and their occurrence as swarms, however, are entirely different things. There is also the case of mistaken identity. Attacks by coffee locusts are often confused as that by desert locusts,” said Madhu Subra, Director of Research, KAU.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), which has been closely monitoring the locust attacks in other States, believes that Kerala would be spared an invasion as the monsoon winds would act as a deterrent.
