Will the African locust plague affect China? A detailed guide to locust control methods

Recently, reports have said that African locusts are currently migrating and reproducing rapidly across large areas of eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the India-Pakistan border, and that African locusts have become a plague. So will the African locust plague affect China? What are the control methods?

1. Will the African locust plague affect China

The impact of a locust plague on the agrochemical industry is mainly seen on two levels: first, killing locusts drives growth in demand for insecticides; second, the grain supply gap drives crop prices back up, which in turn pushes up pesticide sales and prices. This round of locust plague has not passed through the world's main grain-producing regions, so it will not yet trigger a global food crisis.

Experts say that a large proportion of adult desert locusts have already begun to land and lay eggs in Pakistan and other countries, and that the locusts' migratory flight ability will decline significantly after that. In addition, limited by the terrain of the areas where China borders Pakistan and India, it is very difficult for locusts to cross the high-altitude cold regions, so there is basically no impact on China and there is no need for excessive worry.

2. What control methods are there for a locust plague

1. Environmental protection

Natural factors are the main cause of locust plagues, but it cannot be denied that a considerable portion are human factors. Locusts must lay eggs on land with vegetation coverage below 50%. If a place has clear mountains and waters and no bare land, locusts cannot reproduce. Some places now have weak ecological awareness; some simply believe that pollution control is the only way to protect the environment, and do not pay attention to work such as improving the vegetation, soil and microclimate of areas suitable for locusts, because the benefits cannot be seen in the short term. Therefore, to fundamentally prevent and control locust plagues, great attention should be paid to the protection of the ecological environment.

2. Chemical control

For the prevention and control of locust plagues, it is recommended to choose highly effective, low-toxicity, low-residue pesticides suited to the target pest, such as 5% fipronil suspension concentrate, using 20—30 milliliters per mu mixed with 50—60 kilograms of water for spraying. It is also possible, within 10 days of the locust nymphs (locust larvae) emerging from the soil, to scatter trichlorfon powder on small bamboo and weeds, or to fumigate with dichlorvos smoke agent. After applying the pesticide, monitoring should also be strengthened, and the control effect should be quickly checked within one week, with timely reapplication of pesticide once to sections that were missed or where the control effect was poor. A trap-kill method can also be used: cut rice straw into pieces four or five cun long, put them into a liquid prepared with 50 kilograms of human urine plus 0.05-0.1 kilograms of 50% wettable trichlorfon, soak them for 8 hours, and on a clear morning scatter them in piles at places where there are many locusts.

At present, the most effective way to kill locusts is to spray pesticides by aircraft. This method has a high kill rate and a wide killing range, but it is costly, and a control approach based mainly on chemical control can only meet a temporary need and cannot guarantee long-term stability.

3. Natural enemy control

In the long run, to effectively prevent and control locust plagues, we must focus on ecological development and implement the four-in-one combination of plant protection, biological protection, resource protection and environmental protection. In particular, it is necessary to ensure biodiversity and protect the natural enemies of locusts. According to statistics, China currently has 68 species of natural enemies of locusts, including birds, amphibians and reptiles, and they play an important role in controlling locust numbers.

Farmers should try their best to protect farmland spiders to prevent locust damage. The specific method is: after harvesting, do not casually burn the rice straw, but leave it in the fields to create a good “living environment” for spiders; another method is: before and after harvesting, gather the spider egg sacs found into a safe place and protect them.

If the spread of locusts is not controlled, it will threaten the food security of a considerable number of people, so the editor suggests that everyone carry out biological control well; protecting the environment is also protecting our own interests.