Grasshoppers raid rice, corn fields

MAUMERE, East Nusa Tenggara: Over 2,800 hectares of rice and corn fields in three West Sumba districts have been declared destroyed following attacks by thousands of grasshoppers.

A staff member at the local agriculture office, Ambrosius Leba, said on Wednesday residents of the districts had been ordered to exterminate the pests in order to prevent them from affecting other districts.

He said the farmers would be paid with rice in exchange for the grasshoppers they captured.

"A kilogram of grasshoppers is worth two kilograms of rice," he said.

As of Monday the local administration had taken 53 tons of rice out of storehouse for the farmers, according to Leba. (yac)