Locusts munching their way to Beijing

The Chinese farming community is facing the wrath of locusts

(CNN) -- A major locust plague chomping its way to Beijing is creating panic in China.

The pestilence has come within 100 kilometers of Beijing and central authorities have ordered 14 provinces and major cities in northern and central China to take emergency measures to kill the insects.

The locusts have so far eaten their way through 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of farmland in provinces including Shandong, Hebei and Shanxi and the directly administered city of Tianjin.

State papers on Wednesday reported that the plague had come one month earlier than last year and that the area affected was at least 10 percent more than in 2001.

Ducking out of trouble

Armies of ducks are being enlisted by authorities to prevent the plague of locusts engulfing swathes of valuable cropland, although the birds themselves will probably also end up being eaten.

The Manasi locust station in the northwest of the country is about to unleash 4,000 hungry ducks into surrounding fields to munch their way through as many of the locusts as they can.

"Ducks are the best way to get rid of locusts because they have such a big appetite," Xiao Hongwei said by telephone from the locust station Tuesday.

"After two or three months, they typically weigh around two kilos (4-1/2 pounds) and can be sold to markets and roast duck restaurants" to be eaten wrapped in thin pancakes with plum sauce and spring onions.

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Agricultural experts say due to continual drought and the warm winter, larvae from last winter have been able to survive this spring, thus contributing to the huge numbers of locusts in early summer.

The mass-circulation China Youth Daily reported that locusts in Tianjin, which are threatening the capital, are so numerous there are up to 5,000 insects for every square meter.

Officials in Beijing said government units including the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Trade and the State Development Planning Commission had formed an inter-departmental task force to exterminate locusts.

Their first goal was to contain the damage by making sure that the pace of locusts moving from one area to the next would be slowed.

Floods

Meanwhile, the opposite climatic pattern -- severe rainstorms -- are hitting other parts of China. (Tragic start to China's flood season)

The official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday that top party and government leaders had issued personal instructions to minimize the damage that heavy flooding had done to inland Shaanxi Province.

More than 150 residents in the province have died since the downpours began on June 8.

In nearby Sichuan Province, 27 residents have perished as a result of the flooding.

It is understood that President Jiang Zemin, also Chairman of the Central Military Commission, has called on the army to take a more active role in disaster relief.

Nineteen brigades from the army's engineering corps have been converted into "professional rapid-response units to fight flood and help in rescue efforts."

Weather experts in Beijing say as in previous years, the most severe rainstorms and flooding – which are expected to affect major rivers such as the Yangtze – will not come until late July or early August.