Desert locusts once again attack the insecticidal world "star" biopesticide amplification trick

As countries around the world grapple with the threat of a new crown pneumonia outbreak, the East African country is facing a new problem, with a renewed locust plague 20 times the size of the first disaster at the beginning of the year, according to media reports.
year-to-date, desert locusts have swept across Africa, West Asia and South Asia. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has again released information that the second wave of locust plagues has plunged some 20 million people into a severe food crisis in six East African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania). In addition, Yemen has been hit by locusts, with 15 million people in the country facing the same situation. Zhang Zehua, a
the China Agricultural Research Institute and a post-scientist in the technical system of the national pasture industry, told Science and Technology Daily.
large-scale locust disaster in many countries, grasslands are also threatening China's food security. In this fight against pests, in addition to traditional chemical pesticides and other pest control measures, biopesticides are gradually becoming the rising star of the insecticidal community., what technologies are used in the design of biopesticides and how do they kill locusts?
" biopesticide refers to living organisms and their metabolites, including microbial pesticides, plant-based pesticides, natural enemies and so on. At present, in the prevention and control of locust biopesticides, the market is more environmentally friendly microbial pesticides, including fungi, bacteria, viruses, protozoa and so on. Tu Xiongbing,
of the China Agricultural Research Institute and secretary-general of the National Innovation Alliance for the Prevention and Control of Biological Disasters in prairie, told Science and Technology Daily.
these microorganisms come from nature. "For example, we now commonly use green rigid bacteria, which is an important insect fungus that is extracted from the body of locusts that get the 'flu'. Compared to chemical pesticides, many biopesticides are slow to function and generally take one to two weeks to start working on pests. Tu said.
in order to improve the speed and effectiveness of these drugs, researchers use space mutagen, genetic engineering, molecular breeding and other technologies to improve their ability to cope with locusts.
Said locusts develop "influenza" after feeding or touching the fungi, and that the flu will continue to reduce the rate, attack and longevity of locusts. According to current statistics, the effectiveness of this control can be as long as 8 to 10 years. There are methods of natural enemies to control locusts, such as in Inner Mongolia, the use of chickens and ducks to control locusts, in the western region of Xinjiang, artificial nesting to attract pink ostrich locust control has been successful, become a model of local natural enemy biological locust control." no single technology can solve the problem of locust plague, so it is necessary to combine biological control, chemical control, ecological control measures to achieve long-term control of pest populations. Zhang Zehua analysis, especially in medium and high-density areas, can use biopesticide-based continuous control measures, so that these microorganisms in the dense locust population to form an epidemic of disease, through flight and carry each other, to achieve the continuous control of locusts, so that the disaster no longer spread.
in addition to biopesticides for locusts, what biopesticides are scientists developing?
" in addition to fungi, bacteria and other microbial locust insecticides, the current market more biopesticides also have Suyun Jinli bacteria, viruses, plant-source insecticides and other types. Tu Xiongbing introduced, among them, Su Yun jin bacteria insecticide, also known as Bt insecticide, is currently the most successful biopesticide research and development application of insecticides, accounting for more than 90% of the total amount of biopesticides, can prevent and control more than 150 kinds of scaly wing pests.
" SuYun Jinli bacteria can not only be used directly for pest control, at the same time, can also be used in
breeding technology, for example, trans-Bt gene anti-worm cotton breeding success, effectively control the harm of cotton bellworms, in China's cotton growing areas to promote the application of a large area. Tu Xiongbing said that the nuclear polykerat virus in the prevention and control of beet nightingado, twill nightingado and other vegetable pests played an important role. There are indica, bittersin, fish cane ketones and other plant-sourced insecticides, in the control of aphids, small vegetables and other different target pests have a better prevention and control effect.the main advantages of biopesticides compared with chemical pesticides?
, said biopesticides have three major advantages, one is long-term validity. Compared with chemical pesticides, biopesticides are less toxic or non-toxic and have a long duration of action. For example, between 2003 and 2005, the flag of taiman Temple in Xilin Guole League in Inner Mongolia used green rigid bacteria to control locusts for three consecutive years. Until 2016, surviving green spoores were detected in the soil, and the area was not largely contaminated with locusts for 10 consecutive years.
Zhang Zehua pointed out that biopesticides also have a major advantage, that is, good target, strong selectivity, they are only effective for one or a class of pests, non-target pests have no effect, while harmless to humans, birds, fish, silkworms and so on. In addition, non-residual, environmentally friendly, but also one of the advantages of biopesticides. Biopesticides are used in relatively small doses, pests are not prone to drug resistance, there are no reports of resistance of pests after the use of biopesticides. And they come from soil, plants or insects in nature, so they can avoid environmental pollution caused by chemical pesticides.
Zhang Zehua told reporters, taking microbial control of locusts as an example, before 2000, China's grassland locusts occurred an average annual area of more than 300 million mu, the use of green bacteria and other biological control measures, at this stage, China's grassland locusts annual average area control within 120 million mu. And the proportion of biological control increased from 15.4% in 2003 to 60% now, which has made a positive contribution to the protection of grassland ecological environment.
" has been tested in practice, this biological control measure is harmless to the environment, widely accepted in the international community, has been widely promoted and applied in China. And has also begun to go a foreign country, serving Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Laos and other 'Belt and Road' along the country. Zhang Zehua said.