Over 19 000 hectares were jointly surveyed in border areas, from 27 May to 01 June 2024 by 11 Kyrgyz and Uzbek locust experts, from the Department on Chemicalization, Plant Protection and Quarantine (DCPPQ), Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry of Kyrgyzstan (five staff), and the Agency on Quarantine and Plant Protection (AQPP), Ministry of Agriculture, Uzbekistan (six staff). The cross-border survey covered border districts in Osh (Aravan and Nooket districts), Batken (Kadamjay district) and Jalal-Abad regions (Aksy, Nooken and Suzak districts) in Kyrgyzstan as well as Andijan (Khojaabad, Marhamat, Bulakbashi, Kurganteppa and Pakhtaabad districts), Namangan (Chartak, Uychinsk, Uchkurgan, Yangikurgan and Chust districts) and Ferghana region (Ferghana, Kuva, Kuvasay districts) in Uzbekistan. During the survey, no Moroccan locust (DMA) was observed in the border areas, however on the Kyrgyz site in Aravan, Osh region, Italian locust (CIT) as well as grasshoppers (Kadamjay. Batken region) were observed over an area of 100 hectares with a density of CIT hoppers of 2-4 individuals/m2 and of grasshopper hoppers of 5 10 individuals/m2. It was agreed to conduct chemical treatment of these infested areas in order to prevent further spread. The countries' participants agreed to continue sharing information and close cooperation to protect crops and pastures from locust threat, especially in border areas. This cross-border survey was the fourth in a row involving Uzbekistan with its neighboring countries during the 2024 locust campaign. It was held within the FAO Locust Programme in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA), with the financial support of the regional project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

On 7 June, agriculture ministers from the five Central Asian countries came together at a virtual meeting to discuss sustainable locust management at the national and regional levels. The meeting was hosted by Kazakhstan and facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The goal was to strengthen cross-border and long-term regional cooperation and to share experience, knowledge and lessons learned from locust campaigns. The meeting covered advanced approaches to improving country capacities and supporting a preventive approach for better locust management and the reduction of risks related to locust outbreaks. This includes the use of monitoring systems, in particular the Geographic Information System developed by FAO, as well as more efficient and safer locust control, such as the Ultra-Low Volume (ULV) technology for locust spraying and use of biopesticides. At this occasion, countries’ representatives acknowledged the positive impact on regional cooperation, capacity strengthening and introduction of best practices and new tools of the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)”, with the support provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). They called for even more cooperation and for the active introduction and use of modern methods and technologies towards sustainable locust management. Reducing the impacts of locust control on food security and livelihoods while limiting the risks to human health and the environment are key to ensuring better production and a better environment.

From 13 to 18 May 2024, twelve experts, six from the Plant Protection Service, Ministry of Agriculture of Turkmenistan, and six from the Agency for Quarantine and Plant Protection, Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan, conducted a locust cross-border survey in Lebap region (Khojambas, Farab and Kuytendag districts) in Turkmenistan, as well as Kashkadarya (Guzar, Dehkanabad and Nishan districts) and Bukhara regions (Alat and Karakul districts) in Uzbekistan. The survey covered a total of 42 500 hectares (ha), including 18 500 ha on the Turkmen side and 24 000 ha on the Uzbek one. Fifth instar hoppers of Moroccan locusts , with density from 8 to 15 individuals/m2, and large saxaul humpback grasshoppers, with density from 6 to 10 individuals/m2, were observed on both sides of the border. To combat this threat, both countries had already initiated chemical treatments in the affected border areas. Specialists from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have established close contacts to exchange information on locust situation and ongoing control measures, with an agreement to promptly inform each other about outbreaks or emergencies. Their joint efforts aim to safeguard crops, pastures and saxaul plantations. The survey was conducted in the framework of the regional FAO Project “Improvement of Locust Management (Phase 2)" with funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). 

On 14 May 2024, the side-event organized in FAO-Headquarter, immediately before the start of the FAO Regional Conference for Europe and Central Asia, allowed spotlighting the need for sustainable locust management in CCA, relying on regional cooperation and prevention. Notable progresses have been made since the launch of the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)” in 2011, with countries close cooperation and FAO support. To ensure sustainability of the gains, further efforts are needed to ensure long-term regional cooperation, to maintain and expand the use of the introduced automated system for monitoring, data collection and analysis, and forecasting, as well as for the promotion of effective locust control techniques, including biopesticides. Representatives from two countries, Mr Almaz Alakunov, Head of Plant Protection and Control Division, Department of Chemicalization, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry of Kyrgyzstan and Mr Alisher Umaraliev, Head of Institutional Development and Better Regulation Unit, Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan, shared their experience and perspectives. They both acknowledged the improvements made with the support of the FAO Locust Programme in CCA, in terms of regional cooperation and capacity strengthening. They also called for continuous dialogue and knowledge exchange in the region, allowing a consistent approach, harmonizing competencies and bringing innovations. FAO speakers included opening remarks by Mr Viorel Gutu, Assistant Director-General, Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, a presentation by Mr Alexandre Latchininsky, Senior Locust Management Expert, FAO Plant Production and Protection Division, calling for sustainable locust management in CCA, and an intervention by Mr Oleg Kobiakov, Director, FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, on the importance of regional cooperation for locust management.

A locust cross-border survey was held between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from 23 to 27 April 2024. It involved nine experts, four from the “Republican Methodological Centre on Phytosanitary Diagnosis and Forecasts”, the State Inspection Committee of Agro-industrial Complex, Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan (including its acting director), and five from the Agency for Quarantine and Plant Protection, Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan. The survey was conducted on a total of 11 000 hectares (ha), including 2000 ha in Turkestan region, Kazakhstan, and 9000 ha in Tashkent region, Uzbekistan. Out of three border districts visited in Kazakh territory (Kazygurt, Saryagash and Keles), Moroccan Locust was observed only in Kazygurt district, on 10 ha, with hoppers of first and second instars and a maximum density of 100-300 individuals/m2. Six border districts were visited on the Uzbek side (Tashkent, Kibray, Bostanlik, Chinaz, Yangiyul and Zangiata), where only hoppers of grasshoppers with an average density of 0.5-1 individuals/m2 were observed. The participants from both countries highlighted the importance of the joint efforts towards protecting the agricultural areas from locust threats and agreed to continue close collaboration and share information. It was the first cross-border survey involving Kazakhstan in the framework of "Project for improvement of locust management (Phase 2)" in Central Asia, funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as part of the FAO Locust Programme in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA).

For the first time ever in Tajikistan, treatments with a biopesticide Metarhizium acridum were conducted against Moroccan locust during the national demonstration conducted by FAO in April 2024. The demonstration consisted of two parts: on 12-14 April, trials were carried out over 35 hectares infested by hoppers in Khuroson district, Khatlon region, together with theoretical sessions and on-the-job training to the benefit of 15 participants, i.e. 10 from the State Entity “Locust Control Expedition”, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) – the responsible entity for locust management, and five from the MoA, Tajik Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Tajik Agrarian University and National Academy of Sciences. During the second part, on 25 April, a field day of the use of biopesticides and its results was held with the participation of 40 people, those from part 1 as well as various other stakeholders, including representatives from local authorities, from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), from a World Bank project and the FAO Representative in Tajikistan. The results of the treatments with biopesticides were excellent: 100% mortality was recorded after 10 days in cages while the field mortality reached more than 90% after day 18, where the density of hoppers in the treated area dropped below the economic threshold. Following the regional demonstrations held in 2023 for Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) countries, this national demonstration is the first of several planned during the 2024 campaign in the framework of the FAO Locust Programme in CCA. This event was held with the support of the regional Project “Improvement of locust management (Phase 2)" in Central Asia, funded by JICA.  

A training on locust identification and monitoring was organized by the Russian Agricultural Center on 17-18 April 2024 in Orenburg, Russian Federation, and delivered by the FAO Senior Locust Management Expert. Despite the catastrophic flooding in the region, the training attracted 42 experts involved in locust surveys, joining from 16 different regions of the Russian Federation and from Uzbekistan (2 persons). The training covered the bio-ecology of the Italian, Moroccan and Asian Migratory Locusts, identification of locust and grasshopper species and hopper developmental stages (instars), as well as the basics of the locust preventive strategy and monitoring. A part of the training was devoted to the introduction of biopesticides in locust control. Trainer participation was supported by the FAO Regular Programme.

Two activities were organized in Kazakhstan during the first half of April 2024, in close liaison with the State Inspection Committee in the Agricultural Sector of the Ministry of Agriculture as well as its Republican Methodological Center for Phytosanitary Diagnostics and Forecasts. A training was first organized in Astana on 1-5 April 2024 to the benefit of 24 Kazakh locust experts, joining from the central apparatus as well as from 13 regions of the country. It was delivered by FAO Experts and focused on bio-ecology of the Moroccan, Italian and Asian Migratory locusts and on the basics of the locust preventive strategy, monitoring, information management -including the use of the Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC)- and pesticide risk reduction. The following week, on 8‑12 April, the FAO Geographic Information System (GIS) Expert also delivered a specific training to seven staff Republican Methodological Center, responsible for the use and management of the Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System (CCALM). Linkages between CCALM and the Kazakh national database FitoKZ were also further discussed to improve automatic exchange of locust data between the two systems, especially in border areas. These activities were implemented with the financial support of the project funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the benefit of Central Asian region.

With FAO support, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan continued their close collaboration and coordinated efforts on locust management by conducting a cross-border survey on 2-7 April in their southern regions. Ten locust experts participated, from the State Entity "Locust Control Expedition", Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Tajikistan, and the Agency for Quarantine and Plant Protection, MoA, Uzbekistan (five/country). Overall, 77 000 ha were surveyed, including 35 000 ha in the border areas of Districts of Republication Subordination and Khatlon region of Tajikistan during the first three days and 42 000 ha in the border areas of Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan during the next three days. The main species in this area, the Moroccan Locust (DMA), had already started hatching on both sides of the border. It was mainly in its first instar, with a density reaching up to 50-60 individuals/m2. Based on the survey results, it was forecasted that 10 200 ha of the visited areas on the Tajik side of the border, and 29 500 ha of the surveyed area in the Uzbek side, would be treated in 2024. Such joint activity greatly helps in strengthening cooperation in locust management. It was possible thanks to the support of the "Project for improvement of locust management (Phase 2)" in Central Asia, funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in the framework of the FAO Locust Programme in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA).   

A five-day training on locust monitoring and information management was held in Bishkek on 25‑29 March, bringing together 24 specialists from the Department of Chemical Plant Protection and Quarantine of the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry, from central level and all regions of the country. They were taught identification, biology and ecology of the Italian (Calliptamus italicus) and the Moroccan (Dociostaurus maroccanus) locusts as well as the basics of the locust preventive strategy and monitoring methods. The use of the Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC) during survey and control operations and the analysis of data using the Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System (CCALM) were also addressed. The field part allowed demonstrating the use of survey equipment and tools as well as practicing, together with the trainers, the filling out of ASDC forms on tablets and smartphones. Special emphasis during the training was also given to mitigating impact of locust control on human health and the environment. This training was possible thanks to the project funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).