Locusts Devastate Key Farm Regions In Mauritania - Reuters

[hatrack]

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania - An agricultural region in eastern Mauritania faces the loss of its entire crop to swarms of locusts unless action is taken immediately, a regional government official has warned.


The airborne pests have devoured some 40 percent of crops and 60 percent of pastures in the region of Hodh Echarghi and the swarms are getting bigger, said Sidi Mohamed Ould Ghassam, the Rural Development Ministry's representative in the area.
"These figures are going to worsen as the pastures dry up at the end of September and the locusts will fall back on what's left of the crops," Ould Ghassam told state radio Monday.

The main crops in the region are millet, sorghum, beans and watermelons. Goats, sheep and cows are also bred there. "We risk losing the entire agricultural crop unless exceptional measures are taken in the very near future."

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