Locust Watch
Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia

N. 72 August 2020

Published: 18/09/2020

Italian and Asian Migratory Locusts (CIT and LMI) finished mating and egg-laying and started to die-off in most countries and generally, the situation was calm. In five countries – Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – anti-locust treatments had finished in July. In the other five countries, campaign continued. About 10 000 ha were treated in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation each; additionally, small areas were treated in Azerbaijan and Armenia, which brought the area treated in August to 30 794 ha and the total area of anti-locust treatments during 2020 campaign to just under two million hectares, which is close to 2019 level but slightly lower than the forecast for 2020. In general, COVID-19 pandemics created difficulties in implementing locust monitoring and control activities in CCA.