Saudi Arabia cleared 2,600 hectares of land of desert locust in the Eastern Province, the kingdom's Ministry of Agriculture and Water said on Monday.
Millions of locusts invaded farms and agricultural areas in Riyadh, Qassim, Hail and the Eastern Province in the past few weeks.
They pose a major threat to food security by feeding on plants and crops on farms.
The ministry said on Twitter that “43 field teams managed to treat 2,600 hectares of land for locusts by using 1,950 litres of pesticides in agricultural and border areas of the eastern region”.
Dammam and Hafr Al Batin were cleared of the insects, but swarms of locusts remain in Khobar, Qatif and Abqaiq, as well as the villages of Alia and Atfih. They are also on the Riyadh-Dammam highway and the Saudi-Kuwaiti border.
There are no locusts on the Saudi-Omani border, the ministry said.
Field teams are continuing to explore and follow up operations in all governorates.
The dense cloud of ravenous insects is also under control in Al Ahsa governorate in the Eastern Province, according to Saudi Arabia's state news agency.
Teams are on alert to deal with locusts and are fully equipped with pesticides, Ibrahim Al Kalil, director general of the ministry’s office in Al Ahsa, said.
"Farms in the governorate have not been damaged," Mr Al Kalil said.
Millions of locusts have swarmed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen over the past few weeks after countries in the Horn of Africa suffered the largest outbreak in decades.
Swarms of billions of locusts destroyed crops in Kenya, which had its biggest outbreak in 70 years, as well as Somalia and Ethiopia, which have not faced swarms that size in 25 years.
The UN warned “we simply cannot afford another major shock” to an already vulnerable African region.
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Young desert locusts that have not yet grown wings jump in the air in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia. AP -
a young desert locust that has not yet grown wings is stuck in a spider's web on a thorny bush in the desert in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia. AP -
Young desert locusts that have not yet grown wings crowd together on a rock in the desert in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia. AP -
Young desert locusts that have not yet grown wings crowd together on a thorny bush in the desert, in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia. AP -
Dominique Burgeon, center, Director of the Emergency and Resilience Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization and Keith Cressman, right, Senior Locust Forecasting Officer, walk in the desert in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia. AP -
A policeman looks at young desert locusts that have not yet grown wings covering the ground in the desert in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia. AP -
Pest-control sprayers demonstrate their work on the thorny bushes in the desert that is the breeding ground of desert locusts for a visiting delegation of Somali ministry officials. AP -
An official from the Food and Agriculture Organization demonstrates the "eLocust3" software used to record and track the location and movements of locusts using GPS. AP
