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In recent days, desert locusts have rarely occurred in East Africa and West Asia, and many countries have declared a state of emergency.
According to reports, the locust plague began in East Africa, and has now crossed the Red Sea into Europe and Asia, reached Pakistan and India, and is only one step away from China.
Image Source: Official FAO Website
Locust attack! Global locust plague warning has sounded the alarm
On February 11, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned the world in the hope that the world will be on high alert to the locust disaster that is currently raging and prevent invasion The country has a food crisis.
The locust transit can only be described as “miserable”: a swarm of 1 square kilometer can eat 35,000 rations a day, which greatly threatens the survival of local residents.
FAO said that the damage caused by the locust disaster to crops was the highest in East Africa in 25 years and the highest in Kenya in 70 years. Somalia and Ethiopia have declared complete stagnation in agricultural production.
Neighbors BuckyStan and India are equally under pressure.
Pakistan suffered a double invasion by African locusts and Iranian locusts, creating a plague of locusts not seen in the country in 27 years. Pakistani official said: If left unchecked, the country will have no food to collect. The country has now declared a state of emergency.
The situation in India is also not optimistic. It is reported that 400 billion locusts attacked Rajasthan, India, causing a large number of crops to be destroyed and spread to other states. Some Indian scholars have predicted that the locust plague will reduce India’s grain production by 30-50%. This has greatly raised the concerns of the Indian government.
Unfortunately, FAO judges that the trend of locust plague expansion may continue until June of this year, at which time the scale of locust swarms may even increase to 500 times of the present.
Multinationals declare emergency state
At present, countries in East Africa, West Asia, and South Asia are experiencing rare locust disasters. Somalia, Pakistan and other countries have declared a state of emergency to respond to locust disasters.
First, it covers a wide range. Currently, more than 10 countries have been affected by desert locusts. The affected countries include: Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, West Asia, Iran, Yemen, Oman, South Asia India, Pakistan, etc. According to reports, about 1.05 million mu of land has been affected in Kenya. 5.55 million mu of farmland in India sufferThe loss was over ten billion rupees.
Second, the degree of occurrence is serious. Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations issued a warning that the situation in East Africa is extremely critical, and the number of desert locusts has reached 360 billion. The locust plague in Kenya was the worst desert locust outbreak in 70 years. A locust swarm alone was 60 kilometers long and 40 kilometers wide. Desert locusts have gathered and developed rapidly in eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia since June 2019, quickly becoming the region’s worst desert locust invasion in the past 25 years. The outbreak in Pakistan surpassed the worst locust plague in history in 1993, and wheat alone is expected to lose $ 1 billion this year.
Third, the situation was severe in the later period. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the climate and rain conditions on both sides of the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa from February to mid-March this year are still favorable for the breeding of locusts. Experts monitor that desert locusts are expected to generate one month at about 40 ° C. Each generation has a survival period of up to 3 months. Each generation of locust populations breeds a 20-fold increase in population. If left unchecked, the number will rise exponentially, possibly up to 500 times in June.
From the perspective of Africa, the migration, spawning, hatching and gathering of locust swarms in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya will pose a threat to South Sudan and Uganda, and move inland to Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Farmers across East Africa Facing food shortages. Judging from the situation in Southwest Asia, desert locusts will hatch in southern Iran and form a locust swarm. The probability of a locust outbreak in Pakistan is high, which may cause a 30% -50% reduction in food production and pose a threat to India and other countries in South Asia.
Will locusts endanger China? Here comes the response!
The monitoring and dispatching analysis by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas shows that the probability of harm of desert locusts to China is very small, and the risk of large-scale outbreaks of domestic locusts is very low.
The pictures in this article are all CCTV news pictures
According to reports, desert locusts are tropical in Africa and Asia.Major agricultural pests on river valleys and oasis in desert areas have strong flight ability and large food consumption, can gather to form huge locust swarms, can fly up to 150 kilometers per day with air currents, and can migrate across the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.
It is understood that in January 2019, the desert locust swarms crossed the Red Sea from Sudan and Eritrea on the Arabian Peninsula, reached Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Iran in February, southwest Pakistan in March, and north-central Pakistan in June. The country has caused serious harm and has accumulated a higher source of insects. Affected by factors such as abundant rainfall and long monsoon times, countries in East Africa, West Asia and South Asia are currently experiencing rare locust disasters. Somalia, Pakistan and other countries have declared a state of emergency to respond to locust disasters.
First, it covers a wide range. Currently, more than 10 countries have been affected by desert locusts. The affected countries include: Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, West Asia, Iran, Yemen, Oman, South Asia India, Pakistan, etc. According to reports, about 1.05 million mu of land has been affected in Kenya. India ’s 5.55 million mu of farmland was damaged and losses exceeded Rs 10 crore.
Second, the degree of occurrence is serious. Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations issued a warning that the situation in East Africa is extremely critical, and the number of desert locusts has reached 360 billion. The locust plague in Kenya was the worst desert locust outbreak in 70 years. A locust swarm alone was 60 kilometers long and 40 kilometers wide. Desert locusts have gathered and developed rapidly in eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia since June 2019, quickly becoming the region’s worst desert locust invasion in the past 25 years. PakistanThe outbreak surpassed the worst locust plague in history in 1993, and wheat alone is expected to lose $ 1 billion this year.
Third, the situation was severe in the later period. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the climate and rain conditions on both sides of the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa from February to mid-March this year are still favorable for the breeding of locusts. Experts monitor that desert locusts are expected to generate one month at about 40 ° C. Each generation has a survival period of up to 3 months. Each generation of locust populations breeds a 20-fold increase in population. If left unchecked, the number will rise exponentially, possibly up to 500 times in June. From the perspective of Africa, the migration, spawning, hatching and gathering of locust swarms in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya will pose a threat to South Sudan and Uganda and move inland to Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and farmers across East Africa face food shortages . Judging from the situation in Southwest Asia, desert locusts will hatch in southern Iran and form a locust swarm. The probability of a locust outbreak in Pakistan is high, which may cause a 30% -50% reduction in food production and pose a threat to India and other countries in South Asia.
On February 10, the United Nations held a briefing at its headquarters in New York, calling on the international community to take urgent action to raise funds to help the Horn of Africa nations resist locust invasion and avoid serious locust and humanitarian crises. Qu Dongyu, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, said that if we do not take prompt action, we will face a rapidly expanding humanitarian crisis. East Africa, the Red Sea region and countries in West Asia may face large-scale locust plagues.
The migratory locusts in the history of China have similar migratory habits to desert locusts, but belong to different biological species. Experts believe that there is no record of desert locust hazards in Chinese historical data, but experts speculate that there is a distribution of desert locusts in Nyalam, Yunnan and Tibet Autonomous Region. Around 40 ° C is the condition for the migration activities of pupae and adult locusts of the desert locust, and the relative humidity needs to reach 60% to 70%. The largest areas of desert locust outbreaks are Myanmar, Nepal and India. The migration direction of locust swarms in spring occurred in India-Nepal-Myanmar-South Tibet and western Yunnan. Considering the barriers between the Kunlun and Himalayas in China’s border areas, it is difficult for locusts to cross cold areas at high altitudes. The borders between southern Tibet and western Yunnan are adjacent to areas where desert locusts occur in Nepal and Myanmar.A small amount has moved into China, but the probability of harm is very small.
I understand from the Plant Protection and Quarantine Division of the Plantation Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs that in recent years, China ’s locust monitoring and early warning and prevention and control capabilities have been continuously improved. The level of prevention and control technology is among the world’s leading levels. The risk is low.
At present, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is closely monitoring the development of locust disasters overseas, and at the same time, it has arranged provinces such as Yunnan and Tibet to strengthen monitoring of locusts at the border to prevent immigration hazards.
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