Locust spotted in Lebanon

Farmers in north and south Lebanon woke up Saturday to swarms of locusts invading their gardens and crops as the Agriculture Ministry said it would investigate the phenomena brought on by the sudden rise in temperatures. Farmers spotted locusts in their gardens and porches in several northern areas, including Koura, Tripoli, Zghorta and Akkar. Meanwhile in the south of the country, swarms of the little creatures appeared in Tyre and near the Litani River. According to the National News Agency, residents in the south were concerned of what the short-horned grasshoppers might do their crops. However, the general director of the Agriculture Ministry, Louis Lahhoud, reassured farmers, saying the Ministry saw no cause for alarm at this point and that it was looking into the matter further. "As soon as we heard the news, we were on high alert and conducted a comprehensive survey on the ground,” he told the NNA. “There is no need to panic because the [Agriculture] Ministry is fully prepared and there is nothing scary so far,” Lahhoud added. The director of the livestock department at the Ministry Mohammad Abu Zeid also said there were no reasons to assume the locusts posed a risk given the current stage of their lifecycle. He said the locusts, which arrived in Lebanon Saturday morning, were harmless because "they are not in their mature phase yet.” He told the state-run agency that the weather, which is expected to turn cold in the coming days, is guaranteed to destroy the creatures and limit their dispersion.  Albawaba Business