Officials try to trap grasshoppers with mosquito nets

However, agri officials found an innovative method of controlling the pests, using mosquito nets to trap them. Though they could only catch 30 of them on Friday, the farmers were trained on how to proceed with the net process.Saravanan, a farmer from Puthur village near Usilampatti had been spending sleepless nights as grasshoppers were swarming his crops for cattle feed on half-an-acre land. Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar was informed and he visited the spot along with agri officials on August 19. It was then confirmed that the pests were indigenous grasshoppers and not the migratory locusts. The Minister asked the farmers, including Saravanan, not to panic as these varieties would not harm the crops. The officials asked the farmers to use neem oil as repellent. However, the attack was not contained even after the treatment prescribed and so the farmers approached the officials again. 

Hence, on Friday, a team led by agri officer Puvanendran visited the spot again but with an innovative plan to control the grasshoppers. They were carrying two mosquito nets and two officials held one and spread it over an area and a few of them ran into the field and chased the grasshoppers towards the net with a strange howling noise. Through this, after running to and fro for hours, they managed to net 30 grasshoppers. Before leaving the spot, the officials advised the farmers to follow their techniques and assured them that this method would certainly put an end to this threat.

In 2017, Co-operatives Minister Sellur K Raju had used thermocol, taped together, to cover the Vaigai dam surface and prevent water from evaporating. The Usilampatti incident is another innovative attempt of that kind, but one has to wait and watch for the results.