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Abdu Far'e Al-Rumaih, general director of the agriculture ministry's Desert Locusts Control Center said that a locust infestation is expected from Eritrea. It may remind readers of the Biblical plagues faced by the Egyptians, one of which was locusts.

Sudan is already combatting desert locusts, so Yemen now expects its own infestation. Al-Rumaih stressed the importance of fighting the locusts in the desert before their arrival in agricultural areas. "Yemen could lose YR 164 billion ($840 million) if these locusts plague our crops," he predicted. The main areas which will probably be affected by the locusts are in Hajjah, Hodeidah and Abyan governorates.

Yemen experienced locust infestations in 1986, 1987 and 1993. Outbreaks in 2002 and 2004 were successfully controlled.