The government has allocated 650 billion rials ($4 million) to the battle against desert locusts that have invaded southern parts of Iran since mid-February, according to the spokesman of the Plant Protection Organization affiliated to the Agriculture Ministry.
“The total amount needed by PPO to effectively control the pest is estimated to be around 850 million rials [$5 million],” Mohammad Reza Mir was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official added that so far the pest has been fought on over 170,568 hectares of land in seven infected provinces, namely Sistan-Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Fars, Kerman, Khuzestan and South Khorasan.
Sistan-Baluchestan where the locust has been fought on a total of 66,043 hectares is the worst-hit province, according to the official.
“We are planning to use drones to battle the pest in mountainous and inaccessible areas like swamps. Yet the most effective and environment-friendly method is to use vehicle-mounted and handheld sprayers,” he said.
“Up until now, no amount of the $500,000 Emergency Technical Cooperation Program agreement we signed with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on March 19 has been received. We are in talks as to how the procedures would follow.”
Cooperation With FAO
The TCP project aims to enhance the country’s technical capacity for early warning, monitoring and management of the desert locust.
Funded by FAO, the project will contribute to the efforts of Iran’s national and local managers and experts in five southern provinces of Khuzestan, Bushehr, Fars, Hormozgan and Sistan-Baluchestan by providing knowledge, skills and equipment to detect, track and rapidly respond to desert locust infestation, FAO writes on its website.
The first generation of desert locusts attacked Iran about a year ago. FAO alerted Iran of probable locust attacks on Jan. 21, IRNA reported.
The Plant Protection Organization of Iran battled the pest across 750,000 hectares in the previous round of attack that cost PPO more than $2.74 million. The area is expected to exceed 1 million hectares this year, hence, the need for more budget.
Mohammad Reza Dargahi, the PPO chief, has said that this year, the battle is three times as intense as last year.
FAO believes that the current desert locust outbreak is the worst in 25 years across East Africa and Southwest Asia.
In southwest Asia, hopper groups and bands are present in southern Iran and in Pakistan where substantive control operations are continuing, FAO wrote in its latest desert locust situation update of May 4.
“There’s a generation of locusts in southeastern Iran every year, and that’s not the problem, as preparations have already been made to fight the insects,” said Keith Cressman, senior locust forecaster for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. “The issue this year is that swarms from outside invaded the southwest of the country, while seasonal rains arrived early.”
Desert locusts are yellow flying insects that grow to 10 centimeters and are considered the most destructive migratory pest in the world. A swarm covering 1 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.
Originating from the desert known as the Empty Quarter, which spans parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE and Yemen, large locust swarms spread uncontrollably last year to both East Africa and Iran.
Worst Locust Outbreak
South Asia is already girding for battle. In Pakistan, food prices have soared, as farmers combat the worst locust outbreak in almost three decades. The country declared a national emergency on Feb. 1.
Government officials in India said they were preparing for a “two-front war” as the coronavirus outbreak is set to collide with locust swarms from both Iran and East Africa. The invasion is expected ahead of the summer monsoon season due to start in June, which usually lasts through September.
Pakistan and Iran have collaborated on containing locust plagues since 1995. This year, they’re working together again.
There’s also a weekly call among Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India for exchanging information on locust movements. Even teams from India and Pakistan regularly meet on either side of their respective borders, despite the two nuclear powers having no diplomatic relationship.
“It’s an example of joint collaboration between countries, regardless of political strains,” Cressman said.
In Ethiopia, which is also facing its worst desert locust outbreak in decades, a swarm that hit 200,000 hectares earlier this year left one million people in need of food assistance, The New Humanitarian reported.
