The regional Technical Workshop on Locusts in CCA is gathering, this week, the countries participating in the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)” as well as representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and several other observers, in addition to the FAO organizers. The Workshop allows discussing the lessons learnt from the 2025 national anti-locust campaigns and preparing the next ones, the implementation of the Programme in 2025 and workplan for 2026, the use of the Geographic Information System (GIS) entitled “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System” (CCALM), the use of biopesticides for locust control, the use of drones and new technologies in locust management, risk reduction associated with locust control operations, and future perspectives. This event is possible thanks to the financial support of the JICA, along with a minor contribution of the FAO Regular Programme.

A three-day practical training on the proper use, maintenance, and repair of Ultra-Low Volume (ULV) sprayers was held in Bokhtar, Tajikistan, from 29 to 31 October 2025. Twenty participants - national experts and technicians of the State Entity “Locust Control Expedition” (SE-LCE), Ministry of Agriculture, who are engaged in locust control operations across the country, benefited from the training. The session was delivered jointly by the FAO Agricultural Officer (Locust Management) and the Technical Director of Micron Sprayers Ltd (U.K.). It aimed at enhancing participants’ knowledge of ULV technology, improving the efficiency of locust control interventions, promoting safe and environmentally sound spraying practices and extending the lifespan of available equipment. The sessions combined theoretical and hands-on components. Over the three days, participants reviewed key aspects of ULV vehicle-mounted (Micron AU8115) and knapsack (Micron AU8000) sprayer operations, including setup and calibration, and simulated field application to troubleshooting and equipment repair. A special focus was given to maintenance, storage best practices, and identification of spare parts necessary for sustained field readiness. By the end of the course, participants strengthened their technical capacity to ensure more reliable, safe, and effective locust control operations in Tajikistan. This training contributes to the ongoing efforts of FAO to support national and regional preparedness and response to locust threats across the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) region, as part of the “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in CCA”. The training was more specifically organized by FAO in close collaboration with Micron Sprayers Ltd (U.K.), in the framework of the FAO Project “Strengthening national capacities of Tajikistan on locust and dryland beetle management” (TCP/TAJ/4007).

From 7 to 9 October 2025, three locust and plant protection experts from the Plant Protection Service, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Turkmenistan, visited in Tashkent the Agency of Plant Protection and Quarantine (APPQ), MoA, Uzbekistan, including its Scientific Research Institute of Plant Protection and Quarantine. The visit aimed to strengthen regional collaboration and facilitate the exchange of expertise on locust management within Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA). After having been welcomed by APPQ management, participants visited the facilities of the Institute. Various presentations were made by the relevant experts and researchers on APPQ and Institute’s history, tasks and responsibilities, research activities, and laboratories. Demonstration and discussions addressed identification of locust species, monitoring, forecasting using GIS tools, both national and ASDC/CCALM, as well as environmentally safe methods of locust control. Participants also visited the field to carry out a locust egg pod survey and assess population density. They got acquainted with the various available machineries and spraying methods used in locust control in Uzbekistan, and discussed risk reduction activities in this respect. Through the visit, both sides are expected to enhance technical cooperation and promote the use of innovative, sustainable approaches to locust management in the region. This activity was organized thanks to the project supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), as part of the FAO Locust Programme in CCA.

On 17–18 September 2025, 37 participants, including 33 trainees, from nine Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) countries participated in an online training session, delivered by the FAO Geographic Information System (GIS) Expert (locusts). Participants focused on the new functionalities of the Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC) and the Caucasus and Central Asian Locust Management System (CCALM) and the training also allowed, for the first time, to introduce QGIS, a free, open-source software for viewing, editing, and analyzing geospatial data. During the first day, addressing the GIS new functionalities, participants learned how to register new devices, use geo-referenced warning messages, and apply satellite products such as soil temperature and moisture, air temperature and precipitation, as well as several indices related to vegetation (NDVI), water (NDWI) and snow (NDSI) for locust monitoring and early warning. On the second day, after a presentation of QGIS to CCA locust experts of CCA countries, practiProgramme in CCA.

The next Technical Workshop on Locusts in CCA, scheduled in November 2025 in Uzbekistan, 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 several observers from partner organizations, in addition to the FAO organizers. The Workshop will allow discussing the lessons learnt from the 2025 national anti-locust campaigns and preparation of the next ones, the implementation of the Programme in 2025 and workplan for 2026, the latest developments regarding the Geographic Information System (GIS) entitled “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System” (CCALM), the use of biopesticides for locust control, the use of drones and new technologies in locust management, risk reduction associated with locust control operations, and future perspectives. This event is possible thanks to the financial support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

FAO continued to support the field missions of the Human Health and Environment Monitoring (HH&Env) Teams in Central Asia in 2025 – more specifically in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, where they have been created over the past few years. These teams play a crucial role in overseeing the use of pesticides and mitigating their impact on both people and the environment. Their responsibilities include: awareness raising among seasonal workers and local communities on pesticide risks and safety precautions; ensuring proper equipment calibration to avoid dosage mistakes; conducting health checks on pesticide operators - including cholinesterase blood level tests and filling of individual pesticide use passports by operators; and monitoring environmental effects, with special attention to non-target organisms and ecologically sensitive zones. The teams fill HH&Env monitoring forms for comprehensiveness and consistency of data collection and analysis. In 2025, they also piloted the use of the new and third HH&Env form in the Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC), using both paper and digital versions, following the related training held online in February 2025. During the campaign, the Central Asian teams conducted from three to five field missions in locust-affected regions: the Kyrgyz Team carried out five missions, in Jalal-Abad, Batken, Osh, Talas, and Naryn (April-June); the Tajik Team, three sets of missions, in Khatlon, the Districts of Republican Subordination, and Sughd (February-July); the Turkmen Team, four missions, visiting twice Bakherden and Gyzylarbat (May-June); and the Uzbek Team, three sets of missions in Kashkadarya, Samarkand, Surkhandarya, and Navoi (May-July). To support this work, two on-the-job trainings were also delivered by the FAO Environment Expert on monitoring techniques to the most recently established Teams in Uzbekistan (March 2025) and Turkmenistan (June 2025). FAO support was provided under its “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)”, with the financial support of the regional project “Improvement of Locust Management (Phase 2)”, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The E-Committee on CCALM, held on 15 July 2025, involved about 45 Locust Experts from all Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) countries together with FAO specialists and system's developers. This fifth annual meeting of the E-Committee allowed discussing the use of the Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC), including the testing in the system of the Human Health and Environmental Monitoring Form, and of the Geographic Information System (GIS) “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System” (CCALM) during the 2025 campaigns. Improvements of the two systems were also reviewed, as well as the linkages between CCALM and existing national GIS -from the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan- and the possibility to mirror the central CCALM database into national databases for other countries. This E-Committee follows the five annual regional GIS Workshop on locust data collection, analysis, forecast and reporting in CCA, which took place online on 13 March 2025, with up to 45 experts. The GIS workshop had allowed discussing ASDC and CCALM use in 2024 – see available report at:   https://www.fao.org/locusts-cca/activities/locust-gis/gis-workshop-2025/en/. As a reminder, ASDC was created to facilitate collection of field data by locust scouts and control operators (on tablets or mobile phones), which are then transmitted to the GIS CCALM, together with data from other sources, to allow analysis of the locust situation and forecast, and thus contribute to early warning and response. The above meetings were possible thanks to the financial support of the project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and as part of the FAO Programme to improve national and regional locust management in CCA.

A national trial using biopesticide Metarhizium acridum was carried out against Italian locust in June 2025 in Kyrgyzstan. The trial was conducted by the Department of Chemicalization, Plant Protection and Quarantine (DCPPQ), Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry, under the guidance of the FAO Biopesticide expert. Biopesticides had been delivered by FAO to that end. Prior to the treatment, spores viability assessment (in lab) showed a satisfactory result of 78%. Control operations were carried out on 12 June in pastures and agricultural fields of Kojomkul village, Jayil district of Chuy region, against Italian locust hoppers, mostly of third instar, with a density of hopper bands from 20 to 200 individuals/m2. Treatments were conducted on 100 hectares using two carriers, i.e. mixing the biopesticide spores with diesel and with vegetable oil (50 hectares each). Mortality assessment was then carried out, following FAO protocol. The results showed high efficiency of the product, with 100% mortality in cages 15 days after the treatments. Additionally, on 25 June, a field day demonstration of the results was held including 20 participants, representing DCPPQ, farmers, local populations and FAO. The participants visited the treated fields and had indoor discussions on the method and biopesticide used, as well as on the results obtained. FAO’s work in Kyrgyzstan and in the whole Caucasus and Central Asian region was presented at this occasion, with a view to support safer locust control. Relevant publications were also distributed. This trial, organized for the second year in a row, was possible thanks to the joint support of the regional project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the FAO Regular Programme, under the FAO Programme “Improvement national and regional locust management in Caucasus and Central Asia”.

His Excellency Qurbon Hakimzoda, Minister of Agriculture of Tajikistan, visited the Swiss Center for Locust and Migratory Pests at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. The same day, the Center also welcomed a delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, led by Ms Assem Abdrimova, Adviser to the Minister. These meetings allowed discussing the current situation, the progress made over the past years and the main current priorities. His Excellency Qurbon Hakimzoda emphasized the importance of regional cooperation in addressing locust challenges, referred to as a priority for his ministry, stating “It is through working together that we can solve this problem.” Ms Assem Abdrimova stressed the importance of locusts in Kazakhstan and the need to train more personnel in using innovative data collection and analysis technologies. It was emphasized that the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)”, implemented across ten countries since 2011, has fostered regional collaboration, trained over 4,000 personnel in locust control, and supplied key equipment for survey and control. An innovative Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC) has been introduced, enabling real-time data transmission to the Geographic Information System (GIS) “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System (CCALM)”. Additionally, ultra-low volume (ULV) spraying with oil-based pesticides was introduced, as well as recently biopesticides in locust control, alongside with pesticide risk reduction measures, including the establishment of Human Health and Environmental Monitoring Teams in six CCA countries to monitor and minimize treatment impacts. This was possible thanks to the support of the resource partners, primarily the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Central Asia. It was reminded that the multi-funded Programme, and the projects which are part of it, promote the locust preventive control strategy by strengthening regional cooperation and national capacities to effectively manage locust issues. The overall objective is to contribute safeguarding food security and livelihoods while reducing the impact of locust control on human health and the environment. At the occasion of these meetings, a presentation was made regarding the monitoring of the desert locust situation, ensured 24/7 by the FAO Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS). Based on data transmitted by the desert locust-affected countries, FAO DLIS assesses the ongoing locust situation, provides forecasts and alerts and provides advice depending on the situation.

The Turkmen Human Health and Environmental Monitoring Team benefited from an on-the-job training, delivered by the FAO Environmental Expert from 10 to 13 June 2025, on adopting risk reduction measures and monitoring the impact of locust control on human health and the environment. After an initial theoretical part in Ashgabat, the field mission took place in the Desht-Sayvan pasture areas of the Baherden district, Akhal region. The members of the Team, which was created in 2024, consist of four experts, two from the Ministry of Agriculture, one from the Ministry of Environment Protection and a medical specialist from the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry. Participants gained hands-on experience in applying FAO’s Standard Operating Procedures on pesticide risk reduction in locust control activities. This included monitoring of sensitive areas, non-target organisms and personal safety. Field exercises focused on monitoring non-target insects in non-cultivated areas, as well as water and vegetation residue sampling. The use of monitoring tools was demonstrated, such as environmental equipment, incident reporting protocols, Pesticide Use Passport and other monitoring and reporting forms. Technical and operational support to the recently created Team in Turkmenistan is provided with the financial support of the regional project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) within the framework of the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)”.