Chad must attack hatching locusts now to prevent them from spreading across a semi-desert arid region still recovering from a devastating invasion last year, a government official told Reuters on Tuesday. The warning came as nearby impoverished countries such as Mali and Niger grappled with severe food shortages due to damage caused last year by drought and the crop-munching insects. "They are hatching and the locusts are developing very rapidly," said Doubabe Tigaye, director of crop protection at landlocked Chad's Ministry of Agriculture. He said the locusts were seen in the eastern Ouaddai region, home to tens of thousands of refugees from the Darfur conflict in neighbouring Sudan, and in central Batha. --SP 2305 Local Time 2005 GMT
