According to the deputy director of plant protection in the Kaifeng county of Henan province, the number of locusts this year is the largest in recent years. But the damage to the crops is not so serious because the locusts at this season eat the plants with long and wide leaves such as reeds and grass. It won't be labeled as "disaster" by the state standard, if the locusts don't take off or migrate in a large scale. But they live through summer, the each female locust can produce 200 young locusts. By fall, much larger amount of locusts would eat off all the ripe crops...

It is analyzed that the main cause for summer locusts this year is the unusual drought.