According to the latest news, thousands of grasshoppers are invading the Akarca Plain in the Tire district of Izmir.
They pose a serious danger to crops and have already destroyed a lot of this year’s harvest.
Grasshoppers thrive under hot, dry conditions, and as the temperatures are rising, this invasion is causing great concern to local farmers.
Although the majority of damage usually applies to cereal grains, other crops can be seriously affected such as peppers, tomatoes and melons.
Because they are herbivores, grasshoppers feed on grasses and the leaves and stems of plants. Grasshopper infestations have been known to destroy or consume entire crop fields. In some areas, up to 25 percent of crops are routinely lost to grasshoppers.
