Funding shortfalls and rising fuel costs are hampering efforts to prevent a locust invasion at the Beijing Olympics, according to officials from the plague- stricken area closest to the capital city.

Unfavorable winds are also increasing the chances of locust swarms reaching Beijing next month, said Lu Zhanshan, who heads the agricultural office at Duolun County in Inner Mongolia, 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of Beijing.

"We're seeing a serious outbreak of the plague this year," Lu said in a telephone interview yesterday. "Unfortunately, the wind direction is also blowing toward Beijing and the locusts may end up in the capital."

Olympic organizers are already grappling with an algae bloom that has choked the sailing venue of Qingdao, while factories are closing in and around Beijing in a bid to reduce pollution in time for the Aug. 8-24 Summer Games.

Locusts have infested an area of 5,000 square miles (1.3 million hectares), including more than 550 square miles of farmland in Duolun. Officials counted as many as 70 locusts in every square meter (1.2 square yards).

Government officials have set a July 25 deadline to destroy the insects and their larvae. Duolun already eradicated locusts in 77 square miles of farmland and needs funds from the Inner Mongolian government if it's to meet the deadline, Lu said.

The county requires 3 million yuan ($438,000) for diesel to run tractors pulling sprayers and to hire pilots and lease planes to spray the locusts, Lu said. So far, it only received 100,000 yuan, he said.

"We need diesel to run the tractors and there's also fuel for the planes," Lu said. "Oil prices are so high now."

The Inner Mongolian government will allocate funds to counties to fight the locust plague, Meng Shude, a spokesman at the provincial government's information office in Huhhot, said in a telephone interview today.

"The problem isn't widespread and it affects only certain counties," Meng said. "We are confident of killing the locusts and larvae in time to ensure a smooth Olympics."

Manually Applied

Deng Baogui, a vegetable farmer in the county, said his farm was covered in about 30-40 locusts per square meter. He got a call from county officials to collect pesticide today.

Each of his village's 125 families will offer one member to spray from a can strapped to their back, he said.

"We're safeguarding our farmland and at the same time we're answering to the government's call to ensure the environment is protected for the Olympics," the 54-year-old said in a phone interview from Fu Quan village.

Officials in Qingdao are continuing their clean-up operation and have scooped up more than 400,000 tons of string-like green algae.

The city government said it laid four miles of driftnets to protect the sailing venue and is adding another six miles of netting to prevent the algae from washing ashore. More than 300 sailors from 29 countries are training at the venue.

"We feel for the organizers," said Hein Verbruggen, the International Olympic Committee's official overseeing preparations, in a statement. "They really didn't need this on top of all the other work they have, but they demonstrated to us they will manage to remove the algae in time."

He did not comment on the locusts.

Cooler temperatures and drier conditions in May delayed locust hatchings, especially of the Oedaleus Decorus Asiaticus variety that has the ability to fly long distances, Lu said.

"The directive is to prevent the locusts from taking flight, prevent them from entering Beijing and prevent them from destroying everything along their path," he added.

A swarm got as near as 100 kilometers from Beijing in June 2002, Beijing Youth Daily reported at the time. During an outbreak that same year in Tianjin, about 300 kilometers from the Chinese capital, as many as 5,000 locusts were found in every square meter of land, the paper said.