【Search and download Huayu APP, browse the news and information of the media in various countries in the world, and no translation required]
According to Aohua Finance Online, "a large number of locusts are constantly coming. The sky was covered with furry clouds, and countless wings flapped and made a terrifying noise. The sky is dusk, the sun is obscured, and the wind and blood are raining, as if the end has come. ”
This is Mo Yan's description of the locust plague that occurred in 1927 in Gaomi Northeast Township, Shandong Province, China.
In that article, he also recorded the horrific situation outside the field: "According to an old man who worked as a train driver on the Jiaoji Railway, in that year, locusts lay on the railway, like hills, blocking the way of the train, and the jiaoji railway traffic was interrupted for seventy-two hours. ”
How far away will the locust plague be from China in 2020?
The massive desert locusts that began in East Africa last December have now flown over the Red Sea and are wreaking havoc in West and South Asia, approaching China, with widespread public concern about whether the locusts will enter Guangxi and Yunnan.
Locust plagues and droughts and floods, and called the three major natural disasters in Chinese history. In recent decades, local locust plagues in China have occurred from time to time, but the scope is not large, mainly in the yellow pan areas and grassland areas in the past, and have not caused widespread production reductions.
According to cbn, Ma Wenfeng, deputy general manager of Beijing Soori Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd., believes that although there is a natural barrier between China and India and Pakistan in the Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains and Himalayas, it can block the invasion of locusts to a certain extent, but it should not be taken lightly. The Tibetan Plateau cannot completely block the attack of flying locusts, and the Brahmaputra River Basin is also an important source of locust plagues. More importantly, locusts can enter China's Yunnan and Guangxi through the Indochina Peninsula, and then spread to other parts of the country, and the grassland moth invaded the country in 2019, which is the route taken.
Today, the Global Times also published an article on the locust plague, with a very eye-catching headline: Food Crisis! Experts warn that the Locusts in June "increased by 400 times", don't take it seriously!
Experts said that if the locust plague continues to rage abroad, the possibility of locusts entering China in the summer will increase sharply, and it is recommended that the government coordinate prevention efforts in various regions, conduct real-time monitoring, and prepare enough drugs and pesticide spraying equipment.
Many experts in China have said that they should actively take measures to stop the spread of locusts.
Australia has also sounded pest warnings
Australia is no stranger to locust plagues. Ten years ago, in 2010, Australia suffered the worst locust infestation in three decades, and the infestation was quite rapid and spread almost across the country. Locusts reportedly devoured a quarter of Victoria's crops, causing economic losses to agriculture amounting to $2 billion.
What Australia needs to guard against most at present is another "lethal" insect pest - the grassland night moth.
Originating in the Americas, the grassland moth has invaded 65 countries in Africa and Asia since 2016, and none of them have been able to eradicate the pest so far.
The meadow moth destroys more than 350 different plants, including corn, sorghum, wheat, and fruits and vegetables. In India, this pest destroys 20% of sugarcane crops.
In January 2019, the grassland nightcrawler invaded from China's Yunnan Province and subsequently spread in many parts of China. This is an invasive alien species, which is difficult to control and control. Due to the large amount of wintering and the early migration time to the north, the industry believes that the possibility of a full-scale outbreak of the grassland night moth in China in 2020 is very large.
No trace of the grassland moth has ever been found on the Australian mainland. But CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation of Australia) researchers have also recently warned that it could be difficult to eradicate if the grassland moth spreads across the australian continent.
Less than a week ago, the meadow moth was spotted on Saibai and Erub islands north of mainland Australia.
J Just a few days later, the Queensland Biosafety Authority confirmed to the media on the 17th that a grassland moth was found in Bamaga on the edge of Cape York.
Dr Wee Tek Tay of CSIRO said if a grassland moth had been found on the Australian continent, it was likely that there would be more than one.
"It can easily fly 100 or 200 kilometers, especially under the right conditions and wind direction," he said. There's a good chance they'll be able to survive in the north, and in fact our model predictions suggest that Australia's far north is well suited to this pest to survive. ”
"Scientific research in Australia is very advanced and there is good coordination between government and industry bodies, so [successful eradication] depends on the rate at which pests are forming," he said.
"But if they continue to breed in Australia, it will be a major challenge for us."
Canegrowers Queensland chief executive Dan Galligan said the sugarcane industry in northern Queensland is now on the front lines of a meadow moth invasion of Australia. If a region reduces even 10 or 15 percent of its crops, the huge impact on local factories, as well as other producers, will be enormous.
Queensland's Biosecurity Department will begin monitoring meadow moths at multiple locations in Queensland this week. But what measures to take against this pest, such as pesticide extermination, genetically modified crops or attractants, still needs to be explored.
j Food export challenges
According to statistics, the total wheat exports of countries around the world in 2018 totaled $41.2 billion, and in five years, total wheat exports fell by -13.8%.
Australia is known for its mining exports, but in fact, wheat is Australia's third largest export commodity, with annual exports of A$3.57 billion, behind iron ore (A$38.8 billion) and gold (A$13.5 billion).
In 2018, among all continents, European countries accounted for more than half of global wheat exports, with exports reaching $22.6 billion, accounting for 54.8% of the global total. Canada and the United States in North America accounted for 27.6%, ranking second. Australia's wheat exports accounted for 7.5%, ranking third. Latin (excluding Mexico, but including the Caribbean) was 6.2 percent, Asia was 3.7 percent and Africa was 0.1 percent.
In 2018, Australia ranked fifth in wheat exports among the 15 countries with a 90% share of wheat exports.
j In terms of net wheat exports (total wheat exports - total wheat imports), Australia's net wheat exports fell by as much as 42.3% in 2018.
j China and Australia, one is a big wheat importer, the other is a big wheat exporter.
According to the statistics of China Grain Network, in September 2019, China imported a total of 138,000 tons of wheat, with an import amount of 36.48 million US dollars. From January to September, China imported a total of 2.08 million tons of wheat, with an import value of 591.73 million US dollars. The number one importer in September was Canada, with Kazakhstan and Australia ranking second and third respectively.
Source: China Grain Network
Chicago wheat futures rose nearly 2 percent on Tuesday after new estimates put Australia's wheat production down to its lowest level since 2008.
On the same day, The Australian Bureau of Agriculture ABARES said harvesting in 2019/2020 had now been completed due to severe droughts that had reduced crop yields, with a total production of 15.17 million tonnes, the lowest level since 2008.
Matt Ammermann, commodity risk manager at INTL FCStone, said: "This has supported wheat prices despite widespread production cuts in Australia due to bad weather.
"Australia is a big wheat exporter, and Australia's reduced supply on the world market could open up more sales opportunities for U.S. wheat. Wheat prices are also supported by active import demand. ”
Australian agribusiness GranCorp Limited (ASX: GNC) had to change its port supply chain last year due to the extremely dry climates of Eastern Queensland and NSW, which caused reduced harvests, to transpose more than 2 million tonnes of grain from other states to meet demand in Eastern Australia. Transshipments of this scale were rare in the past, which further reflects the severity of drought.
Despite Victoria's higher share of food production, Australia's winter crop yields for 2019-2020 are below average, with the latest ALARES estimates showing a total winter crop production of 11.4 million tonnes in Eastern Australia.
Last week, widespread rains fell in eastern Australia. Mark Palmquist, CEO of GrainCorp, said in the latest announcement: "While it is too early to assert a drought, this is an encouraging signal after we have experienced a long period of drought. ”
But grainCorp expects grain exports to be the least again this year, and wading grain from WA and Victoria will still be diverted to Queensland and NSW, he said.
The United Nations' 2019 Global Food Crisis Report says conflict, climate change and economic volatility remain the main causes of food insecurity. Over the past three years, the total number of people facing a food crisis worldwide has remained above 100 million, and the country scope is expanding, and "various economic shocks have also prolonged and exacerbated acute food insecurity in the context of the food crisis". (Original title: Locust plague approaching China's border Why has Australia also sounded the food alarm? ）
* Unauthorized reproduction, excerpting, reproduction and mirroring are prohibited, and violators will be held legally responsible in accordance with the law.
Source: Aohua Finance Online
Android users can search and download the "Huayu" APP in various app stores to browse the news and information of the media in various countries around the world without translation.