Desert locusts are approaching our country! Experts caution: Be alert to potential threats

11th, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned the world to be on high alert for locust plagues that were currently raging and to prevent a food crisis in invaded countries.
fao warned that the scale and destructive power of desert locusts in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia was an unprecedented threat to food security in the Horn of Africa. In the spring of 2020, winter locust eggs in India, Iran and Pakistan hatch in Asian countries, forming swarms of locusts, causing severe harm and spreading to southwestern Myanmar.
locust plague has aroused the concern of all walks of life in our country. To this end, the Chinese Academy of Sciences interviewed Zhang Zehua, a researcher at the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shi Wangpeng, a professor in the Department of Insects at the Agricultural University of China, and Zhang Xin, a special researcher at the National Academy of Agricultural Research.: It is known that 400 billion locusts have arrived in Rajasthan, India, how do you see the trend of locust plague?mainly desert locusts that are causing the locust plague. China's Tibet Autonomous Region border area with Pakistan, India and Nepal is a desert locust proliferation area, but due to environmental, climatic and food constraints, china's agricultural production is not a threat. Due to the barrier of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the possibility of moving directly into china's inland areas is very small. Moreover, even if we move into our border provinces, it will be difficult to continue to invade our inland areas to create harm.
, however, in years when desert locusts are more severe, locust swarms spread south and east from India to Bangladesh and Myanmar. If it spreads to this area, the risk of moving into southern Yunnan, China, increases.According to the latest FAO desert locust intelligence, desert locust habits and current climatic conditions analysis, north-east Africa and the Middle East locust swarms are spreading and migrating on a large scale, some locust swarms have begun to lay eggs, after 1 to 2 months of development will further form new locusts and locust swarms.
Locusts on both sides of the Red Sea will form new locustgangs and swarms of swarms, which will spread to the south-west of Saudi Arabia, some of which will move from the border areas of India and Pakistan to Yemen and Amman, creating new disasters.: Based on observations, will these locusts reach our territory?desert locust diffusion area can reach southwestern Myanmar, Myanmar is about 100 to 200 kilometers from our country, the same altitude area is the closest distance is about 1000 kilometers. There are two important points to pay attention to.
The first is in May, if there is a large number of moving populations in India, Myanmar, coupled with the Indian Ocean southwest monsoon is unusually strong, then the locust swarm at 700hPa altitude over the cross-mountain opportunities greatly increased, the possibility of moving into China's Yunnan is greater, under the monsoon, and even into Guangxi, Sichuan.
The second is june-August, if the Indian and Burmese desert locusts are not controlled, the disaster continues to erupt, the next generation of insects in the west wind rapids and the indian Ocean southwest monsoon under the joint action of the probability of entering our territory suddenly increased.Because of the natural barriers of Tianshan, Kunlun and Himalayas, it is less likely that African desert locust swarms will move into our country, but do not rule out that locust swarms will move eastwards from western India into Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar and Laos, and then invade Yunnan, Tibet, Guangxi and so on, and spread to other healthy areas of the country.China's western border, which is guarded by the Pamir Plateau, the Himalayas, the Transverse Mountains, together with the Ra kai-Naga Mountains in northwest Myanmar, constitutes a natural barrier, at an altitude of more than 2000 meters, which should effectively block the direct threat to our country caused by its eastward migration.
but let's not take it lightly, because the crops in India and Pakistan have been so badly eaten that once they reach a situation where there is nothing to eat, the locusts are likely to change their migration direction. For example, a small number of locust swarms may break through the lower-lying Naga-Rasan mountains into Myanmar, Thailand, and then north into China's Yunnan and Guangxi regions, there is still a greater possibility. Or bypass Central Asia into China's Xinjiang, but the probability is very low. : Why did desert locusts form such a large-scale locust plague this year? for several reasons. First of all, desert locusts in the year before and last year occurred on a relatively large base, spawning a large number. Second, this year, relatively large rainfalls have formed in African regions, allowing desert locusts to hatch at the same site at the same time, all unearthed, forming large populations.
the locust's natural enemies would be able to wipe out some of them if they came out of the soil in batches, as they had done in previous years. But at the same time unearthed so that desert locusts to resist natural enemies of the ability to be relatively large, human prevention and control measures are too late to implement. And it's so harmful that it sweeps away wherever you move. analysis, overgrazing damage to African grassland ecosystems is the main cause, coupled with this year's climatic conditions, such as precipitation suitable for desert locusts. : If locusts move into our country, will it have an impact on China's food security? (except Tibet) inland areas of China, there have been no reports of desert locust distribution and harm in the past 30 years. Once invaded, it will face many uncertainties such as unknown laws, lack of monitoring technology, difficulties in prevention and control, and may pose a serious threat to china's food production safety, grassland ecological safety and biosecurity.
, strengthen unified leadership, real-time dynamic monitoring, do a good job of material reserves, the formulation of prevention and control plans. At the same time, the establishment of international cooperation and communication mechanisms, strengthen scientific research efforts to jointly deal with threats. This time started in Africa, Dacheng in India and Pakistan locust plague, it is very likely that can not enter our territory, or it is very likely that only some locusts can enter China's Yunnan, Guangxi or Xinjiang, China's food security is not a threat. : In recent years, china's locust control situation? more than 1000 species of locusts are distributed throughout the country. There are nearly 50 kinds of plague locusts, divided into two categories, one is able to move over long distances. The other category is not able to move long distances, often disaster, in 14 provinces and regions on the grasslands occur more serious, and sometimes will move into farmland as a result.
China's locust disaster mainly occurred in agricultural areas and grassland provinces, the highest year occurred nearly 300 million mu, an average of 150 million mu, an average annual loss of 1.8 billion yuan, has posed a serious threat to China's food production and grassland ecological security.
years, China's locust control is relatively successful, adhere to real-time monitoring, once found timely prevention and control. The damage to farmland is relatively small.
, however, there is still a long way to go in the prevention and control of grassland locusts. Over the years, the grassland locust occurrence area is relatively large, but the annual control area only accounts for about 30% of the occurrence area, so the hidden dangers left more. the founding of the People's Republic of China, widespread outbreaks of locust plagues have been controlled, but locust plagues occur in local areas from time to time. China has established a relatively complete locust plague monitoring and control system, the National Locust Control Command is responsible for leading the national locust monitoring and control work, governments at all levels have set up locust control stations, responsible for locust monitoring and control in the region and reported to the State Locust Control Command, the State Locust Control Command unified deployment of disaster relief resources to ensure the timely control of locust plague. : What experience can China have for the international community to learn from in the management of locust plague? the policy of locust control is that prevention is the main, comprehensive prevention and control, the principle is that flying locusts do not take off into disaster, non-relocation locusts non-proliferation as a pest, migration abroad into locusts no less than a second take-off as a pest.
in the prevention and control, when the population outbreak, will use high-efficiency and low-toxic chemical pesticides for prevention and control, if the locust occurrence is not serious, then the use of natural enemies, microorganisms and other biological control means. These can be used as reference for international locust control. china has accumulated full experience in locust monitoring and early warning, system construction, biological control and ecological management. China's agricultural plant protection department is strengthening cooperation with the FAO Locust Committee and related countries, the implementation of information exchange, joint monitoring, joint prevention and control, to assist them in the investigation and monitoring data analysis and prevention of new technologies, and organize relevant experts to discuss the development of emergency monitoring and control programs. : What needs attention to be paid to locust control in our country in the future? should strengthen research on the effects of climate change on locust occurrence, develop intelligent monitoring and early warning technologies and equipment, develop new microbial locust control agents, and establish a green and sustainable locust prevention technology system.
For the migration of locusts abroad, we should strengthen international information communication and cooperation, closely monitor the route of locust migration, once found to move into the population, urgently start prevention and control plans, timely do a good job of prevention and control work, the north gate of the China-Mongolia border, the western gate of the China-Kazakhstan border, the south gate of the China-Myanmar-India border.