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Locust threat thwarted

URUMQI (China): A looming locust outbreak on the Chinese side of the Sino-Kazakhstan border has been thwarted, thanks to massive spraying of pesticide by airplane and nearly one million locust-loving birds, said officials with northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Authorities had been building nests since two years ago to attract birds, mainly starlings that love eating locusts, to Tacheng and Altay counties, where the locust plague has always been the worst, said the officials. Every 300 starlings can protect one hectare of grassland from locusts, they said. The starlings are also helped by an army of chickens and ducks raised by local farmers with government subsidies, for the particular purpose of locust devouring. A duck could consume up to 400 locusts a day, according to local people. Xinjiang is one of the regions that suffer most from locusts in China, with more than 2 million hectares of pasture being affected. — Xinhua

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