Locusts invade Russian farmland

The locusts are resistant to insecticide

In this story: No cause for alarm Optimistic reports RELATED SITES

MOSCOW -- More than four million acres of agricultural land have been sprayed with pesticide in a bid to combat swarms of locusts in Russia's Volgograd region.

A 20-kilometer wide cloud of green Asiatic locusts, each the size of a sparrow, has swept on to farmland from neighboring Kazakhstan.

The Tass news agency said a swarm of locusts had been seen in Palassovsky district of the region estimated to be 18 kilometers long (11 miles), 300 meters wide and 150 meters deep.

Last week the agency reported that locusts had also invaded southern Siberia's Omsk region.

Farmers have been unable to protect their crops with insecticide because the locusts are already too advanced in their life-cycle.

Losses to crops are not expected to be as severe as in 1999

Russia's agriculture ministry has said it is not alarmed by the invasion and claims media reports are exaggerated.

"There is absolutely no cause for alarm," Sergei Salenkov, the head of plant cultivation and chemical protection at the ministry, told Reuters.

"There will be some losses, but we expect them to be even lower than last year, when crops were damaged on a territory of 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) but not lost altogether."

Salenkov said the ministry had moved sufficient funds and pesticides to regions that could be hit by locusts.

He said: "As a result, we have treated 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) with pesticides, as compared to 700,000 hectares (1.7 million acres) last year.

"Theoretically such big swarms are possible, but I think in this case the magnitude is slightly exaggerated."

He said three regions -- Altai, Omsk and Orenburg -- had presented the ministry last week with optimistic reports about the locust threat.

"And the (geographical) situation of Altai, Orenburg and Omsk, is much worse than that of Volgograd, as they have longer borders with Kazakhstan, but even they told us not to worry," Salenkov said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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