Locust Watch
Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia

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Training on locust monitoring and information management, including ASDC and CCALM, in Tajikistan

07/03/2024

This training was organized to the benefit of 29 Tajik locust experts from the State Entity “Locust Control Expedition”, joining from Khatlon and Sughd regions and Districts of Republican Subordination. It was delivered in Bokthar on 25 February-1 March 2024, by FAO Experts. The trainees were taught identification, biology and ecology of the Moroccan and Italian locusts and on the basics of the locust preventive strategy, monitoring and pesticide risk reduction. A specific part of the training was devoted to the use of biopesticides in locust control. The trainees were also refreshed on how to enter monitoring information into the Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC), during both survey and control operations, and how to display and analyze the data using the Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System (CCALM).. This training is possible thanks to the project funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the benefit of Central Asian region.

Locust control training held in Afghanistan

04/03/2024

A Training course on locust control took place in Mazar-E-Sharif, Afghanistan, on 19-28 February 2024 to the benefit of 28 participants involved in locust control operations from the northern and northwestern parts of the country. Delivered by FAO Experts, the training focused on the principles and techniques of Ultra-Low Volume (ULV) spraying, both with conventional pesticides and biopesticides, as well as pesticide risk reduction  and monitoring aspects. A specific part was devoted to sprayer maintenance and repair of ULV hand-held, backpack and vehicle-mounted sprayers. In addition, the participants were taught how to use the Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC) during the locust control operations. This was possible thanks to the project funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the benefit of Central Asian region.

A Training on locust monitoring and information management was organized to the benefit of Afghan scouts

12/02/2024

Twenty-five locust scouts from different northern provinces of Afghanistan benefitted from an online training on locust monitoring and management, as well as on the Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC) and the Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System (CCALM), on 5‑8 February 2024. The training, delivered by FAO Experts, provided insights on biology and ecology of the Moroccan Locust and addressed the basics of the locust preventive strategy, monitoring and control. It also included the use of ASDC, both during survey and spray operations, as well as CCALM. In other words, the trainees learned how to distinguish locust species and developmental stages and how to enter monitoring information into ASDC and how to display and analyze it using CCALM. The training is organized thanks to the project funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the benefit of Central Asian region.

View the report of the annual Technical Workshop on Locusts in CCA, November 2023

19/01/2024

The report of the annual Technical Workshop on Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA), held on 20-24 November 2023 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, is available here! It includes a summary of the 2023 locust campaign in the ten CCA countries and a forecast for 2024. The report also contains a review of the progress made and activities in 2023, with a summary of the discussions held by the CCA countries, resource partners, observers and FAO experts, including on the latest developments regarding the GIS “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System” (CCALM) or related to pesticide risk reduction associated with locust control operations, including biopesticides. On this basis, the next annual workplan, covering the 2024 campaign, is also provided and will guide the implementation of the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in CCA”. To be noted that a list of publications relevant to locust management in CCA published by the Programme is provided in annex, with the links to their PDF versions.

Congratulation for the 2023 achievements, best wishes for 2024!

22/12/2023

The FAO Team working on locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia wishes to congratulate all stakeholders for the achievements made in 2023 and to present its best wishes for a successful 2024! The year 2023 has been particularly rich in achievements. Regional cooperation was back at full swing, closing the pandemic chapter. National capacities were strengthened with particular attention to training, joint activities and knowledge transfer on all locust-related topics, benefiting to 700 persons in total, and through equipment delivery. Substantial improvement was made regarding the Geographic Information System (GIS) entitled “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System (CCALM)”, expected to play a key role for early warning and timely response. Indeed, the use of the Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC), which feeds CCALM, has more than doubled during locust survey and control operations with respect to the previous year, reaching above 80% coverage in two CCA countries. Such efforts should be pursued in the next years, until CCALM is operationally used in all or most CCA countries. A major step was also taken towards the use of alternatives to conventional pesticides, with two subregional demonstrations on biopesticides against locusts to which high priority is now given, as part of the preventive control strategy. Such efforts will be pursued in the coming years, including thanks to national demonstrations on biopesticides in a number of countries during the 2024 campaign while promoting continuous attention to pesticide risk reduction. The implementation of the Programme would not be possible without the outstanding support of resource partners, namely Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and United States Agency for International Cooperation (USAID), to which gratitude is expressed.

The annual Technical Workshop on Locusts in CCA is taking place on 20-24 November 2023 in Kyrgyzstan

13/11/2023

The Technical Workshop on Locusts in CCA gathers in Bishkek the Caucasus and Central Asian countries participating in the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)” as well as resource partners and observers, in addition to the FAO organizers. The fourth Project Steering Committee (PSC) of the “Project to improve locust management (Phase 2)” in Central Asia” will also be held at this occasion on 23 November, with the concerned Central Asian countries. The Technical Workshop will allow technical discussions on the implementation of the 2023 locust campaign and related activities as well as on the main challenges for the coming period, including with respect to the Geographic Information System (GIS) entitled “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System” (CCALM), risk reduction associated with locust control operations and use of biopesticides against locusts. The PSC focuses on programmatic aspects. As an output, the annual workplan, relying on different funding sources, covering the 2024 locust campaign will be refined and endorsed. This event is possible thanks to the financial support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Large Saxaul Humpback Grasshopper and Moroccan Locust Survey in Uzbekistan in September 2023

31/10/2023

Based on a request from the Agency for Quarantine and Plant Protection (AQPP), Uzbekistan, the FAO Senior Locust Management Expert and the National Environmental Monitoring Expert carried out a survey of egg-beds of Large Saxaul Humpback Grasshopper Dericorys albidula in Karakalpakstan (12 000 ha) and in Bukhara region near Turkmenistan (6000 ha) as well as of Moroccan Locust in Tashkent region, near Kazakhstan (2 000 ha), on 10 20 September 2023. In Karakalpakstan, the egg-pod density was the highest in newly-planted saxaul shrubs on the desiccated former Aral sea bottom where it varied from 40 to 120 egg-pods per m2. In Bukhara region, the highest egg-pod density was found in the desert Kyzylkum area near the Turkmenistan border, where it varied from 25 to 70 egg-pods per m2. In Tashkent region, egg-pod density of Moroccan Locust near the border with Kazakhstan exceeded 110 per m2. Survey results allowed to develop a preliminary forecast of saxaul grasshopper infestations in 2024, which are expected to cover over 110 000 ha in Uzbekistan. Particular attention should be given to areas on both sides of the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan border where transborder swarm flights of saxaul grasshopper were frequent in 2023. This emerging pest is a serious transboundary threat in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and other Central Asian countries, which causes significant damage to saxaul shrub plantations, which are grown to prevent soil erosion, in particular, in the dried out bottom of the Aral Sea. Similarly, the risk of the Moroccan Locust infestation is high at Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border where transborder flights took place in 2023. The survey was organised in the framework of the FAO Locust Programme in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) and funded by the regional project financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Visit of Tajik experts to the Laboratory of the Agency on Quarantine and Plant Protection of Uzbekistan

05/10/2023

Three experts of the State Entity “Locust Control Expedition”, Ministry of Agriculture, Tajikistan, visited the laboratory of the Agency on Quarantine and Plant Protection (AQPP), Ministry of Agriculture, Uzbekistan, from 26 to 28 September 2023, in Tashkent. This country-to-country visit allowed them to get acquainted with the research and practical works carried out by the Lab and the AQPP as whole on locusts. The programme of the visit more specifically included two days indoors and one field day. The experts visited the facilities of the Scientific Research Institute for Quarantine and Plant Protection of AQPP, to which the lab belongs, and were informed on its history, achievements, ongoing work and future plans. Presentations and demonstrations addressed bio-ecology and spread areas of locusts and grasshoppers in Uzbekistan, natural enemies, sampling and storing for further studies. The visit to other units of the Institute was also organized, such as the research lab on the pests of pastures, fodder and oil seed crops, as well as medicinal plants, and the bio-factory, where various entomophagous insects are reared. Tajik participants informed about the wish to establish a locust laboratory in their country, with at least basic equipment in the near future. During the field day, locust survey methods, data collection and sampling were demonstrated. Various spraying equipment and insecticides used against locusts by AQPP were also showed in the field. The experts from the two countries took this opportunity to discuss strengthening of cooperation and coordination of activities in the border areas. The visit was organised in the framework of the FAO Locust Programme in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) and funded by the regional project financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The Monograph on the Moroccan Locust is published!

28/09/2023

The book entitled “Moroccan Locust Dociostaurus maroccanus (Thunberg, 1815): morphology, distribution, ecology, population management” is now available [www.fao.org/3/cc7159ru/cc7159ru.pdf]. This is the second monograph on locust species from Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) published in Russian with the support from the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in CCA”, which follows the monograph on the Italian Locust published in 2022. The 596-pp. book is authored by seven specialists from Kazakhstan (M. Childebaev and I. Temreshev), Russian Federation (M. Sergeev and A. Fedotova), Turkmenistan (E. Kokanova), Uzbekistan (F. Gapparov) and FAO (A. Latchininsky). It contains 290 illustrations. The monograph summarizes the findings of more than century-long research on the Moroccan Locust in the eastern part of its geographic range. Morphology, taxonomy, ecology, and behaviour as well as phase polyphenism are treated in detail. Special chapters are devoted to food plants (210 species) and natural enemies (275 species) as well as habitats and breeding areas in the eastern part of its range. Methods of monitoring and management strategies, both historical and modern, are also described. The book is complemented by short biographies of specialists who worked on the Moroccan Locust over the last hundred years in CCA.

The annual regional Technical Workshop on Locusts in CCA will be organized on 20-24 November 2023 in Kyrgyzstan

27/09/2023

The next Technical Workshop on Locusts in CCA, scheduled in November 2023 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, will gather the countries participating in the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)” as well as observers, in addition to the FAO organizers. The Workshop will allow discussing the lessons learnt from the 2023 national anti-locust campaign and preparation of the next one, the implementation of the Programme in 2023 and workplan for 2024, the latest developments regarding the Geographic Information System (GIS) entitled “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System” (CCALM), and risk reduction associated with locust control operations. A specific session will be devoted to the promotion and use of biopesticides against locusts. This event is possible thanks to the financial support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

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