ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Desert locust invasion damaged crops harvested on more than 365,000 hectares of land in different parts of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government has disclosed.
The desert locust, which invaded different parts of the country since July, has damaged crops on 365,000 hectares of land, state-run Ethiopian News Agency quoted a report presented to the Ethiopian House of People's Representatives (HoPR), the lower house of the Ethiopian parliament on Tuesday.
According to the report, some 283,172 hectares of farmland that belongs to 499,505 farmers was damaged by locust swarms in Western and Eastern Harerghe Zones of Oromia region.
The locust, which invaded farmland in different parts of the Amhara region, also damaged 81,843 hectares affecting 795,774 farmers.
Since June 2019, the East African country has been suffering from the worst desert locust invasion in about 25 years, affecting major crop-producing parts of the country.
The desert locust, which is considered as the "most dangerous of the nearly one dozen species of locusts", is a major food security peril in desert areas across 20 countries, stretching from west Africa all the way to India, covering nearly 16 million square kilometers, according to the United Nations.
As the East African country fights the worst desert locust invasion in its recent history, the Chinese government had last month donated batches of much-needed anti-locust materials to Ethiopia as.
The batch of anti-locust donation by the Chinese government, among other things, include 72 tons of pesticides, 2,000 units of hand-held ULV sprayers as well as 20,000 sets of personal protective gear.
Ethiopia's State Minister of Agriculture, Mandefro Nigussie, had commended the Chinese government for the "timely and much-needed" support to Ethiopia's fight to control the desert locust invasion.
"We would like to extend our appreciation to the desert locust control protective equipments, desert locust control chemicals, and spraying machines," the Ethiopian State Minister said, as he emphasized that the materials "are important inputs in controlling the current challenging pest, especially in five major regions Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, Afar, Somali, and one city administration." Enditem
