Nébih: Italian locusts caused considerable damage in the summer in Bács-Kiskun and Csongrád-Csanád counties

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 09. 12. 10:51

Significant damage was caused in the summer in Bács-Kiskun and Csongrád-Csanád counties by the proliferating Italian locusts; the warm weather of the past two years greatly favored the reproduction of locusts and it is expected that the population of the species will increase in the next year as well – the National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih) told MTI on Thursday.

This year, in the second half of July, first in the southern part of Bács-Kiskun county, near Balotaszállás, and then in early August, producers in Csongrád-Csanád county notified the authorities of large-scale damage caused by locusts.

As an example, they mentioned that the insects damaged 100 percent of the half-ripe crops of a 2.5-hectare sea buckthorn plantation in Ansel, which was confirmed by an on-site inspection by the government office.

In addition, several farmers reported that locusts also completely destroyed potato, cauliflower, corn and alfalfa crops.

In the Pusztamérges and Öttömös areas of the Csongrád-Csanád counties, producers also reported damage caused by locusts.

The insects caused damage to the carrot field under harvest in the former settlement, and to the pumpkins in the latter. They also completely chewed off the foliage of an asparagus stand, leaving only the thick stems of the plant.