JERUSALEM, Israel -- The Agriculture Ministry warned farmers Monday to be on the lookout for locust swarms that are descending on neighboring Egypt. The warning comes a few weeks ahead of the Passover holiday.

The ministry set up a hotline and asked farmers to immediately report any locust sightings.

It also appointed a special task force to help farmers deal with any infestation of the destructive insects, capable of stripping acres of crops.

In the Bible, locusts were one of the 10 plagues God sent to Egypt when Pharaoh refused to release the Israelites from slavery.