Grasshoppers raid rice, corn fields

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)