Desert Locust Destroy over 3.5 Mln Quintals

Addis ababa, April 28/2020( ENA) Desert locust has consumed over 3.5 million quintals of agriculture produce in Ethiopia, according to Ministry of Agriculture.

Agriculture State Minister Sani Redi told journalists today that the country has managed to control the worst case situation which could have caused food security crisis.  

Though the collaborative works have generally brought results, the locust has hugely affected specific kinds of crop, he added.

Sorghum, maize and wheat on about 198,000 hectares of land were damaged by the desert locust.

According to him, the desert locust has affected 170 Woredas in six regional states and a city administration.

The state minister underscored that the Coronavirus pandemic has created double burden in controlling the locust as it has been forecasted to continue till October.

To avert this, the ministry has deployed three helicopters that assess the movement of the swarm, it was learned.

Furthermore, the ministry has been working to get about 63 million USD from the World Bank to ease the burden caused by Coronavirus, Sani revealed.

He also disclosed that the country may lose about 8 percent of agricultural produces next Ethiopian year due COVID-19 and desert locust.