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Swarms of locusts threaten rice crops in Guinea

By Saliou Samb
CONAKRY, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Swarms of locusts have descended on western Guinea, threatening rice crops in the former French colony where price rises for the staple food triggered riots last year, officials said on Thursday.

"We are observing swarms of locusts moving from the Fouta plateau towards the coastal zones, creating a major risk for rice production," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

The western zones of Guinea produce 32 percent of the 640,000 tonnes of rice produced annually.

In recent months the price of rice has more than trebled in the West African nation, home to thousands of refugees from conflicts in neighbouring Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.

Last year, higher rice prices sparked riots in several towns and people also hijacked rice trucks and looted them.

Locusts munched their way across the semi-desert Sahel region south of the Sahara last year, in the most serious infestation in 15 years. They caused the worst damage in Mauritania, Niger and Mali.

Experts had warned that the locusts could return to the Sahel this year, possibly in even greater numbers.

Guinea's agriculture ministry said locusts arriving from neighbouring Guinea-Bissau reached the northwestern town of Boke two weeks ago. Some of the swarms were 5 kms (3 miles) wide and took 2 hours to fly past.

"It is true that the problem is serious. The locusts currently in Guinea are consuming between 2,000 and 3,000 tonnes of vegetation per day," said Ari Toubo Ibrahim of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation in Guinea.

"There is a training problem locally and a problem of materials to fight the locusts. The products which came from Senegal are not adapted to Guinea," he said.

The agriculture ministry said several eastern and northern regions were also invaded by the crop-devouring locusts.

In Guinea-Bissau, locusts invaded the capital Bissau last week, attacking mango and cashew trees as well as vegetable gardens and pushing prices up in local markets. People burnt tyres in the streets to try to battle the swarms.

Authorities said last week, that the locusts had already destroyed 6,000 hectares of vegetation in Guinea-Bissau, one of the world's poorest nations. Cashew nuts, palm kernels and cotton are the main cash crops.

(Additional reporting by Alberto Dabo in Bissau)