How to manage locust disasters? The Ministry of Agriculture deploys sustainable management work
Web news May 28, the National Agricultural Region Locust Green Prevention and Control Work Conference was held in Jinan City, Shandong, exchanging and analyzing the locust occurrence situation, and arranging and deploying the advancement of sustainable locust management work.
The conference proposed this year's specific targets for locust prevention and control in agricultural regions: implement locust prevention and control area of about 20.85 million mu-times, green prevention and control proportion reaching 60%, aerial operations area of 2.8 million mu-times. The migratory locust population density should be controlled within 1 insect per sq m, and damage loss controlled within 5%; in farming-pastoral ecotone areas, the soil locust population density should be controlled within 5 insects per sq m, striving to ensure “migratory locusts do not take flight and cause disasters, soil locusts do not spread and cause harm, and incoming locusts do not take off a second time”.
The conference held that in recent years, the concepts of “scientific plant protection, public plant protection, green plant protection” have been continuously deepened, the government-led public prevention and control system for locust disasters has been continuously strengthened, prevention and control technologies have continuously made progress, international cooperation in locust control has continuously expanded, and locust harm has been continuously controlled, making positive contributions to the safety of our country's agricultural and pastoral production. However, the locust breeding areas in our country have not yet been completely eradicated, locusts are widely distributed, high-density locust situations often occur in some local areas, and the threat of overseas locusts migrating into our country still exists.
The conference pointed out that the sustainable locust management plan issued by the Ministry of Agriculture analyzed our country's locust occurrence situation, management results, and existing problems, expounded the great significance of sustainable locust management, and clarified the ideas, basic principles, and target tasks for locust management by 2020, and proposed zoned management strategies, key measures, and safeguard measures. It is necessary to earnestly study the plan, clarify target tasks, comprehensively implement it, and ensure the smooth completion of all tasks in the plan. First, improve the prevention and control work mechanism; second, steadily increase funding investment; third, build a monitoring and prevention and control system; fourth, strengthen the construction of prevention and control facilities; fifth, improve the informatization level of early warning and command; sixth, organize and carry out research on prevention and control technology; seventh, strengthen international cooperation and exchange; eighth, promote innovation in prevention and control mechanisms.
The conference required that all localities fully recognize the complexity, long-term nature, and arduousness of locust disaster management, further enhance their sense of responsibility and mission, overcome paralysis and lax thinking, establish the idea of sustainable locust disaster management, and earnestly do a good job in this year's locust prevention and control work.
First, strengthen organizational leadership. Adhere to the principle of combining territorial responsibility and central subsidies, improve locust control command institutions, and formulate prevention and control plans and technical schemes in advance;
Second, do a good job in monitoring, early warning, and duty reporting. Comprehensively monitor and track locust occurrence dynamics inside and outside the country, issue forecasts promptly and accurately, implement the locust control duty system and locust situation reporting system, and absolutely allow no omissions; responsibility shall be pursued if important locust situation monitoring is not in place;
Third, implement locust control funds and prevention and control materials. Do a good job in advance in relevant aircraft scheduling, prevention and control pesticide procurement, machinery maintenance, technical training, and other work, prepare sufficient prevention and control materials, and prepare in advance for carrying out prevention and control actions;
Fourth, vigorously promote green prevention and control technologies. In medium- and low-density occurrence areas, lake and reservoir and water source areas, nature reserves, and green agricultural and livestock product production bases, vigorously promote biological control technologies such as microsporidia, Metarhizium anisopliae, azadirachtin, and matrine. Use more than 60% of central subsidy funds for biological control, strengthen training in green locust control technologies, and promote the integration of unified prevention and control with green prevention and control.
Fifth, improve the informatization level of prevention and control. Strengthen the promotion and application of the locust prevention and control information system, establish a locust disaster information database, promote and apply a new generation of locust area survey and locust investigation equipment, carry out digital surveys of locust areas, and accumulate scientific data for advancing sustainable locust management.
Sixth, promptly carry out prevention and control actions and supervision and guidance. According to the locust situation, promptly carry out prevention and control actions, strengthen locust control supervision and technical guidance, ensure that sudden locust disasters can be prevented and controlled promptly and effectively, and at the same time do a good job in safety training and education to prevent human and livestock poisoning and other casualty accidents.
Seventh, do a good job in international cooperation and exchange in locust control. Do a good job in the China-Kazakhstan locust control international cooperation project, carry out locust control technical assistance to Laos, and prevent overseas locusts from migrating into our country and causing harm. Participate in the China-UK Newton Cooperation Fund locust remote sensing technology research work, strengthen locust control cooperation and exchange with Russia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Australia, the United States, and others, and learn and introduce advanced locust control technologies.