Locusts loom in Sumba

Locusts loom in Sumba

YOGYAKARTA: Sumba Island in East Nusa Tenggara will probably
be hit by a plague of locusts in the next three months, a
researcher from the Yogyakarta-based Gajah Mada University said
on Wednesday.

The pest, locally known as belalang kembara, destroyed 1,660
hectares of paddy fields in East Nusa Tenggara in June, he said.

"In just one hour, a colony of locusts can eat up to one
square hectare of rice fields," said Sudibyakto, chief of Natural
Disaster Studies Center.

The attacks are becoming more frequent because of the decline
of endemic bird species which prey on the locusts.

"From 108 bird species in Sumba, only eight species of them
are left," he said. The local administration and researchers are
doing their utmost to solve the problem, he added. (44/edt)