July 14, 2010

 

Eastern Australia braces for locust plague

The Australian Plague Locust Commission estimates there will be billions of locusts emerging from the ground in eastern Australia during spring.

 

State authorities are also getting ready for springtime, spending millions of dollars on chemicals and setting up regional response centres.

 

It's feared the billions of locusts will decimate grain crops, which got a good start to the season thanks to widespread, continued rain over autumn.

 

Chris Adriaansen, the director of the Australian Plague Locust Commission, says the amount of damage to crops will depend on when the locusts hatch.

 

"If many areas of southern NSW and northern Victoria, for example, as well as the eastern Flinders in South Australia, manage to get their grain crops and canola crops headed and harvested in advance of the locusts hatchings, then obviously that will mitigate the damage."

 

He say cities, as well as country areas, could be affected by what's expected to be Australia's worst locust plague in decades.