Argentina fights plague of locusts

A cloud of locusts that originated in Paraguay has caused massive damage to corn plantations and has for the past several days, spread through northeast Argentina devouring its crops.

On Thursday, it was in Corrientes province, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Brazil's border, according to Argentina's food safety and health authority, SENASA.

SENASA said that current climate conditions indicate it is most likely the cloud will travel to Uruguay in coming days.

Brazil has suffered plagues of the same species of locusts in 1938, 1942 and 1946 that originated in Argentina and entering the southern states.

Since 2015, clouds of locusts have repeatedly appeared in the region of Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina, the Brazilian agriculture ministry said in its statement, adding it is believed that climate change — with greater alterations in temperature and humidity — has caused the insects to swarm more frequently.

Brazil's agriculture ministry on Thursday declared a crop emergency in two southern states amid the possibility a cloud of locusts could enter the country from Argentina.

The "state of phytosanitary emergency" is a bureaucratic step paving the way for Brazil's government to implement plans to suppress the plague and take other emergency measures in case the insects reach the farmland in Rio Grande del Sur and Santa Catarina states.

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