Science and Technology Daily reporter Zhao Hanbin
At present, the desert locust has swept through the Horn of Africa and southwest Asian countries, seriously endangering agricultural production and food security in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Somalia and other countries. On 11 February, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) issued a global warning that countries would be on high alert for the raging locust plague and take joint multinational control measures to prevent a serious food crisis in invasive countries.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the previous locust plague in Africa affected more than 260,000 hectares, a scale of 25 years, a 1 square kilometer locust swarm can eat 35,000 people's rations in one day, and the food supply of 11.9 million people in the region is directly threatened. At present, the desert locust has spread from East Africa to India and Pakistan.
According to experts, the probability of desert locusts invading China is small, but if the climatic conditions are suitable, there is still a risk of invading Yunnan through Myanmar from the Hengduan Mountains, so it is still necessary to do a good job of effective response.
Desert locust individuals are aggressive
The ecological damage is very serious
The current desert locust swarm on the India-Pakistan border is in June 2019 with the help of a strong westerly wind rapid, flying all the way east from East Africa to west Asia to the India-Pakistan border area. After spawning and breeding, a recent locust plague is formed. This year's locust swarms, which were generated in East Africa, flew in droves to southern Iran and the India-Pakistan border in June last year. According to experts, the desert locusts in this disaster, compared with the common East Asian flying locusts in China, are not only larger and more aggressive, but also very serious in damage to the ecology.
Kang Le, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an ecologist and entomologist, said in an interview with the media that the density of the desert locust population is mainly limited by the richness of food. In general, the vegetation in the desert is sparse, and the desert locust is difficult to obtain sufficient food, so the survival rate is low, but once the precipitation is large and the vegetation is luxuriant, the population density of the desert locust will rise sharply.
In the 2019-2020 Pakistan Desert Locust Main Migration Path Map, there are three potential major migration paths for desert locusts on the India-Pakistan border. Image source: Institute of Aerospace Information Innovation, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhang Zehua, a researcher at the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, also believes that the reason why this year's locust plague is relatively large is because the number of locust swarms in the previous year and last year was large, resulting in a sharp increase in spawning; another important reason is that the previous African locust plague area had a large rainfall, which was conducive to locust hatching, thus causing this year's number to be exponentially enlarged, catching many countries off guard, and therefore not forming an effective defense. He suggested that in response to this possible dangerous situation, we should monitor it dynamically in real time, do a good job in material reserves, formulate prevention and control plans, establish an international cooperation and communication mechanism, strengthen scientific research, and jointly deal with threats.
The locust plague in India and Pakistan is more serious than people expected. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Yu
On February 24, a locust control working group composed of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, and relevant departments arrived in Pakistan to assist the Pakistani side in eliminating locusts and inspected the Darbendin and Khannozai areas in Balochistan, Pakistan.
These two areas are located in desert grasslands, with low and sparse vegetation, and a large number of desert locusts can be seen everywhere. According to local officials in Balochistan, 60% of the desert locust plagues in Pakistan occur in the province, and due to the extreme lack of pesticides and equipment in the local area, people can only use the primitive way of knocking on objects and making noise to drive away locusts, with minimal effect.
A chinese working group of experts inspected the locust plague in the desert hinterland of Pakistan's Balochistan province. Image source: International Online
The chances of desert locusts migrating into our country are slim
Yunnan will carry out emergency drills
On March 4, the Chinese Locust Control Working Group concluded a 10-day mission in Pakistan. The Working Group is of the view that the desert locust infestation in Pakistan is more severe, but the possibility of migration to our country is unlikely. The locust plague in Pakistan occurs in tropical and subtropical desert areas, and there is no suitable natural environment in our country. Judging from the historical record, there is no record of desert locust infestation in China.
At the press conference of the joint prevention and control mechanism held by the State Council on the 5th, Pan Wenbo, director of the Department of Crop Industry Management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, said that the desert locust has a history of hundreds of years, mainly distributed in the river valleys and oases in the tropical desert areas of Africa and southwest Asia, it likes high temperatures, drought tolerance, and the suitable temperature for migration is about 40 degrees. The southwest border area of China has the Kunlun Mountains and the Himalayas, which are blocked by natural barriers, and it is difficult for desert locusts to migrate across high-altitude mountains, and the ecological environment and climate in cold areas are not suitable for the survival of desert locusts. The Locust Prevention and Control Headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has organized several expert consultations this year, and experts have analyzed that the probability of desert locusts invading China is very small.
In the past month, Huang Wenjiang, a researcher at the Institute of Aerospace Information Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Dong Yingying, an associate researcher, have conducted research on the spatio-temporal distribution of desert locust breeding and migration that ravaged the Horn of Africa and Southwest Asian countries, as well as the predicted path of desert locust migration and invasion into China on the Border between India and Pakistan. The results of the study show that the probability of desert locusts invading China is small; however, if the desert locusts in Pakistan and India are not effectively controlled, disasters continue to break out, and desert locusts are affected by the southwest monsoon of the Indian Ocean, moving from India to Myanmar via Bangladesh, and from May to June this year, there is a risk of invading The territory of Yunnan and Tibet in China.
Zhang Zehua, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, also believes that due to the barrier of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the possibility of desert locusts directly migrating into the Chinese mainland is extremely small. But he reminded that the desert locust spread area can reach southwest Myanmar, summer is the adult stage, once the southwest monsoon of the Indian Ocean is unusually strong, the opportunity to cross the Hengduan Mountains at an altitude of 3,000 meters will be greatly increased, and the possibility of migrating into China's Yunnan territory will be greater.
Therefore, at the press conference on the 5th, Pan Wenbo also said that China has a history of controlling locusts for thousands of years, and the anti-locust agents and equipment reserves are relatively sufficient, even if the desert locusts move in, they can also be timely and effectively prevented and controlled, but the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will still firmly establish a sense of risk, close monitoring, strict prevention, active aid to foreign countries, scientific response, and minimize the risk of desert locust invasion, so as to be foolproof and prepared. The first is to work out a prevention plan together with relevant departments, establish an emergency response mechanism, carry out emergency drills in a timely manner, and prepare for emergency drills in Yunnan in April; second, strengthen monitoring and early warning, focusing on the encrypted deployment of monitoring points in Border Areas such as Yunnan, Tibet, and Xinjiang, and dispatching additional ground patrol personnel to achieve early detection, early warning, and early prevention; third, prepare emergency materials, prepare medicines and medicines for locust control in key areas in advance, and make preparations for prevention and control at any time.
Map of the main migration path of desert locusts in 2018-2020. (Source: Institute of Aerospace Information Innovation, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Layout monitoring points exceed 100
Integrated monitoring and prevention of air and space in Yunnan
Science and Technology Daily reporter learned from the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Yunnan Province on the evening of March 5 that Yunnan Province has recently issued a notice requiring the competent forestry and grassland departments in various places to fully understand the risk of desert locust invasion and the serious harm after the invasion, and the forestry and grassland departments of 8 prefectures and cities and 25 border counties and municipalities bordering Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam in Yunnan Province, including Honghe, Wenshan, Nujiang, Baoshan, Dehong, Lincang, Pu'er, and Xishuangbanna, as well as deqin county and Weixi county adjacent to Tibet, must effectively strengthen organizational leadership. Strengthen horizontal contacts and communication with agricultural and rural departments, pay close attention to the development of desert locusts, do a good job of monitoring, arrange deployment as soon as possible and take effective measures to effectively deal with the risk of desert locust invasion and ensure the ecological security of Yunnan.
According to the opinions of the expert group, Yunnan will lay out 110 to 120 desert locust monitoring points, start desert locust monitoring, and build a monitoring and forecasting network that integrates "space, air and ground" and combines dots, lines and surfaces, so as to achieve early deployment, early detection and early control, and strictly prevent desert locust invasion, colonization and further spread to other regions in the country. At the same time, timely carry out the mapping and screening of the professional team and number of locust prevention and control teams, pesticides that can be safely used, aircraft, etc., so as to carry out targeted prevention and control at different levels and in stages.
The Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Yunnan Province requires that forestry and grassland departments at all levels should promptly set up leading institutions and expert groups for prevention and control in light of their own actual conditions, formulate emergency plans for the prevention and control of desert locusts, strengthen comprehensive cooperation with agricultural and rural departments, and pay close attention to making preparations for reserves such as locust control agents, equipment, and funds. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of emergency response teams, strengthen pre-planned drills, and once a disaster occurs, it can respond quickly and minimize disaster losses.
Yunnan Province also requires the competent forestry and grassland departments in all localities to strengthen monitoring, make timely research and judgment on the occurrence of desert locusts, and do a good job in monitoring desert locusts in a targeted manner; at the same time, it is necessary to actively carry out inter-regional coordination, strengthen the sharing of information, resources, and technology, fully grasp the trends that occur on the surface and point of desert locusts, and ensure the efficient and coordinated development of work. It is necessary to strictly implement the insect situation reporting system, start the locust monitoring and reporting system and the duty system in a timely manner in accordance with the migration and development of grassland locusts, and issue early warning information in a timely manner, and timely report changes in the desert locust situation, so as to provide a basis for carrying out prevention and control decisions.
What about locust swarms in India and Pakistan today?
What are our tricks to control locusts?
In the locust-stricken area of Bakka, Punjab Province, Wang Zhuoran, a member of the Chinese Locust Control Working Group and director of the Ecological Restoration Division of the Grassland Management Department of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, said that the locust plague was more serious than expected. At present, the desert locust swarm is in the mating period in India and Pakistan, and its movement is relatively slow. It is estimated that there are tens of millions of desert locusts in a swarm of locusts in the Khan nozai region alone, and most of them are in the adult stage, most of which have begun to mate and will soon lay eggs, so it is currently in a critical period to control desert locusts.
The general desert locust mating process takes several hours, and then the female looks for suitable soft soil and uses her abdomen to probe the soil to dig holes to lay eggs, which can hold up to a hundred egg pieces. Egg hatching requires the right temperature and humidity, and to be close to other females who are laying eggs. After mating, the male will die quickly; the female will die quickly after spawning, so it does not make much sense to culling the adult insects after laying eggs, and the focus should be on the locust eggs. The eggs hatch after two weeks, and the best time to control it is in the second and third instar locusts, which is expected to be in early to mid-April. It is understood that Chinese experts are working with the Pakistani side to determine the prevention and control plan.
According to the news from the Institute of Aerospace Information Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, huang Wenjiang, a researcher of the Academy of Sciences, and Dong Yingying, an associate researcher, recently used the Data of China's High Score (GF) series of satellites, the Us Landsat and MODIS data and the ESA Sentinel series of satellite data, combined with global meteorological data and plant protection survey data, combined with pest prediction and forecasting models, and through the big data analysis and processing of the digital earth science platform, large-area locust dynamic monitoring and early warning can be realized.
In the past, The control of locust plagues in China was mainly a combination of reform and treatment strategies. Through the transformation of the ecological environment in the locust infestation area, the environment suitable for locust occurrence is eliminated; at the same time, the population is controlled by biological control methods, and the high-density locust occurrence area is controlled in a timely manner by using chemical agents.
Academician Kang Le introduced that in the past 20 years, the main breakthroughs in locust research in the world have come from the research team of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and in 2014, his team cracked the locust genome and found that the mystery of the lethal genes and two types of transformation of the locust can inspire people to develop new pesticides. Not long ago, they completed the genetic modification of recombinant broad-spectrum green zombie bacteria, which is expected to play a role in controlling flying locusts and desert locust plagues. In addition, the team also completed the gene editing of the locust, and the edited mutant locust lost the ability to gather. According to the smell of locust swarms, people can release swarm antagonists to prevent locusts from gathering and migrating.
Academician Kang Le believes that the occurrence characteristics and environment of desert locusts and flying locusts are different, and it may not be realistic to directly transplant China's experience in transforming locust areas to India and Pakistan, but the fungal biopesticides developed by Chinese scientists, as well as the combination of group antagonists and chemical control methods, can be applied to Africa and "Belt and Road" related countries.
Editor-in-charge: Liu Qian