Argentinean authorities battle plague of locusts

Argentina says it keeping up efforts to control a locust infestation threatening crops in at least three states.

The country’s agricultural inspection agency said in a statement on Tuesday it has controlled 31 new outbreaks of the insect in the states of Catamarca, Santiago del Estero and Cordoba.

But farmers of the Rural Confederations of Argentina told local newspaper Clarin that it is the worst locust infestation in decades.

The government has responded with a task force that includes state and municipal agents as well as farmers.