BURAIDAH/JEDDAH: Despite Ministry of Agriculture and National Anti-Locust Center warnings to the public against consuming locusts over fears of pesticide contamination, the locust market in Buraidah enjoyed brisk trade Saturday. Salesmen came from as far away as the west coast, notably Al-Leeth, and the price of a large case of locusts went for as much as SR400, and a small case for SR100, at the popular market which is frequented mostly by the elderly. “I've brought locusts from the west coast where they proliferate,” said one salesman. “They're easy to catch because there are so many of them.” He said he had brought to market around 150 cases over the past two days. “Locusts are particularly popular in Buraidah and the rest of the Qassim region where they'll pay anything for them,” he continued. “They haven't had a very big supply of locusts in recent times. We don't set prices but basically just put them up for sale through open bidding and leave the prices up to the buyers.” He said that the highest price he saw paid was SR420 for one large case. While an official from the Anti-Locust Department at the Ministry of Agriculture said that no information had yet been received warning of locust swarms in the Qassim region, the ministry sent out 31 teams to locate and combat locusts across the desert regions where they generally swarm during the winter months. Teams were sent out across the regions of Makkah, Jizan, Asir, Tabuk and Madina and conducted surveys of 54,000 hectares. An official from the ministry said that a presence of locusts had been observed in the towns of Al-Leeth and Qulwa, prompting the ministry to contact regional Emirs' Offices for coordination in surveys. “Locusts are combated using sprays and the very latest technology to register and forward data via satellites,” he said. “The data is sent to the National Center for Locust Research.”
