China is suffering a locust plague with the infested area covering 10 percent larger than that of last year. The Ministry of Agriculture has called for urgent fight against the plague.

Locusts are now plaguing over 440 million-mu of land in the 14 provinces, cities and regions of Shandong, Hebei and other regions, an increase of 10 percent as against that of last year. Recently the Ministry of Agriculture is taking urgent measures for helping those regions to wipe out the locusts.

Owing to the ceaseless draught in recent years we've seen an incessant happening of locust plague and so a great number of locusts has got to survive, said Liu Jian, director-general of the headquarter for the annihilation of locusts of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Moreover, the ecological environment in some regions have been damaged and last winter was good for the larval locusts to proliferate and so this year will again see a "serious plague of locusts".

As reported, this year the central government has allotted RMB 50 million-yuan for the prevention and annihilation of the locust-plagues and for the establishment of a network for the control and monitoring of the locust-plague.

It is demanded that the areas seriously plagued by locusts have to submit their reports once every three days and the areas not quite seriously affected must do it every seven days.

In such areas as the Yellow River Delta and Dagang of Tianjin Municipality that are seriously plagued by locusts the departments concerned are taking an urgent action to wipe them out from the air, of which the successful rate in the north of Dagang has come to some 98 percent.

Because for the moment most of the locusts haven't taken wings, therefore, it's the best time for its prevention and destruction. And so the Ministry of Agriculture demands that all those areas concerned must leave no stone unturned to control their taking wings and migrating to other places, making sure that they won't take off and spread out a plague.

( June 10, 2002)