Jugaad yields low-cost locust repellants

No matter how much some nutritionists and entomologists praise insects as a great source of protein, India is unlikely to emulate Israel, some of whose citizens took to eating the swarms of locusts that descended on them in 2013. As they are deemed to be the only kosher bugs — the Torah identifies four types of locusts that can be eaten by the Jewish people while stating that all other insects are terefah, or forbidden — it certainly seems a more useful solution than spraying dangerous pesticides or beating pots and pans to scare them off. Desert locusts are also considered halal. But the chances are still remote that the millions of locusts that have come into India from Pakistan will be regarded as a movable feast. Interestingly, there are reports of a project in Pakistan to trap locusts and turn them into chicken feed.

Although India now has more modern solutions such as drones to decimate the voracious insects, local ingenuity must be appreciated, including the noisy pole-mounted ‘airplane’ made of a plastic bottle, fan blades and other trash. The most innovative solution, however, is surely the loud music spewing ‘DJ vehicles’ in UP. Usually used during marriages, they had been lying idle thanks to lockdown restrictions, so this jugaad was brilliant. Now all we need to know is what music drives away locusts the fastest.