Desert locust swarms are expected to invade Iran within the next few weeks and an estimated 2 trillion trials ($7.72 million) are needed to battle the voracious pest before it reaches the country’s farms and orchards, according to the director general of Pest Control Bureau with the Plant Protection Organization of Iran, affiliated to the Agriculture Ministry.
“The pest will definitely infest our southern provinces of Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Bushehr, Sistan-Baluchestan and in fact, all the cities along our Persian Gulf coast," Saeed Moein was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The locust has to be fought on over 1 million hectares this time, he added.
Moein said Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, East Africa, coasts of Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and the Red Sea coast have been infected by the pest, adding that Iran will have to fight the desert locust until August 2021.
“So far this Iranian year [started March 20], some 100 billion rials [$386,100] were distributed among southern provinces to procure pesticides and sprayers, and a further 250 billion to 300 billion rials [between $965,000 and $1.16 million] are expected to be allocated by the [fiscal] yearend [March 20, 2021].”
The required budget, the official said, has to be allocated for PPO’s efforts to be effective because once the pest reaches agricultural fields, the damage will be hefty.
This year, swarms of desert locust invaded the country in late October, the first bands of which were spotted in Hormozgan Province’s Bashagard County on October 28.
Mohammad Reza Mir, PPO’s spokesperson, said at the time desert locusts will have to be fought on over 600,000 hectares in this round.
The yellow flying insects, which grow to 10 centimeters, are considered the most destructive migratory pest in the world. A swarm covering one square kilometer contains up to 80 million locusts and can eat as much food in one day as 35,000 people. And they move fast: up to 150 kilometers a day and 3,000 kilometers throughout their lifespan.
Female locusts lay up to 80 eggs and live three to five months in three stages: egg, hopper and adult.
