Environment

Locusts Swarming Across Northern Argentina

Argentina’s worst locust swarms since 1954 are threatening to devour crops in three northern provinces.

The insects first appeared last June, when a mild and wet southern winter allowed the swarms to spread to Catamarca, Santiago del Estero and Córdoba provinces.

Farmers complain they had to fight the infestations on their own until the swarms grew so large that the government finally stepped in.

The agricultural inspection agency Senasa says that if they fail to eradicate the pests before the insects develop into flying swarms in early February, the locusts could devour crops like sunflowers and cotton, as well as grasslands for grazing cattle.