According to those charged with keeping the pests in check, insecticide is being sprayed at ground level and from the air to kill the massively destructive insects.

Such measures have been successful in the past to prevent the locusts from flying from their breeding grounds -- usually uninhabited areas -- to other regions, such as farming grounds, the officials said.

But they are not ready to back off yet, because as the current summer plague is coming to an end, an autumn danger looms.

A summer locust plague usually strikes between early May and late June, while the autumn onslaught hits from late July to the end of August.

In East China's Shandong Province, which has been experiencing severe droughts in recent years, the insects have been a problem over more than 313,000 hectares, said Ren Baozhen, who is in control of limiting the impact of locusts in the province.

In the province's hardest hit regions, such as Dongying and Binzhou cities, there are more than 5,000 locusts per square meter. Planes are being used to bomb the insects with insecticide over an area of 80,000 hectares, which will continue until the end of the month, Ren added.

Any of the insects in other areas will be killed by ground level spraying, she added.

The provincial government has so far invested more than 5 million yuan (US$604,000) to try and hold back the insects.

Meanwhile, the locust plague in North China's Hebei Province has to date affected more than 266,000 hectares.

Gou Jianjun, a member of the provincial team in charge of eliminating them, said the local government had allocated more than 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) during its ongoing locust battle.

Both Ren and Gou say despite the serious situation in their provinces, the damage the insects can cause is limited. It is due to the method of attacking them where they breed.

Gou said: "We have staff members who are observing the insects in the uninhabited areas and they report to us immediately once locusts are discovered."

(China Daily June 17, 2003)