The recent outbreak of swarms of locusts has threatened national food security, people’s livelihoods and economic development in the country. A single locust adult can consume fresh vegetation up to its own body weight. According to a projection of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a swarm the size of one square kilometre can eat in one day a quantity of food consumed by 35,000 people.

Historically, the locust outbreaks have been reported in the country during the 1950s, 1960s and 1990s. The fourth invasion was witnessed recently in 2019 that hit Central and East Punjab, the premier food basket of the country.

A recent report by the FAO says that 38 per cent area of Pakistan (60pc of Balochistan, 25pc of Sindh and 15pc of Punjab) is infested by locust swarms. If locusts are not contained in these breeding regions, the entire country will be under a severe threat of invasion.

Moreover, there is a potential threat for a serious invasion in the Kharif season this year by swarms migrating from eastern parts of Africa and Southern Iran. Losses to agriculture by locust invasion are estimated to reach about Rs205 billion, considering a 15pc damage level in Rabi season. And for the Kharif crops, considering a 25pc damage level, the potential losses are estimated to be about Rs464bn.

To combat the current locust infestation, there is a dire need to devise and implement short- and long-term strategies with clearly defined roles and responsibilities of each of the stakeholders (Department of Plant Protection, provincial agriculture departments, National Disaster Management Authority, provincial disaster management authorities and army personnel) so as to sustainably eradicate the locust in the region.

A recent report by the FAO says that 38pc area of Pakistan - 60pc of Balochistan, 25pc of Sindh and 15pc of Punjab - is infested by locusts

As far as short-term strategies are concerned, most effective formulations of insecticides (Lambda cyhalothrin, malathion, fipronil, deltamethrin, chlorpyriphos) and insect growth regulators (triflumuron, teflubenzuron) must be identified for hopper bands and locust swarms.

To avoid the unwise use of pesticides, the local locust population can be controlled to reduce the frequency of outbreak with appropriate insecticides according to optimised dose rates. The most intriguing short-term strategy is to forecast the scattered migratory locust swarms from further dispersal in the first landing place/border areas through aerial spray with aircraft or other heavy machinery.

Pesticides must be applied on settled swarms on trees and bushes from early morning to 11:00 am and after 4:00 pm. Locust monitoring and forecasting ability, such as setting-up temporary monitoring stations in breeding regions and first landing places of migrating swarms, needs to be enhanced.

Advanced spraying machinery eg Micron sprayers and vehicle-mounted sprayers should be arranged at the earliest to combat migratory locust swarms in desert areas for the spray of ultra-low volume pesticide formulations. The locust egg-pods laid in the soil need to be immediately destructed by appropriate cultural practices. To save foreign exchange for the import of spraying machinery, indigenous manufacturing of such equipment through reverse engineering needs to be encouraged.

It is pertinent to mention here that engineers of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, have designed a new sprayer that can spray the solution up to 50 feet high. The sprayer has been dispatched to the locust-affected areas for field trials. After getting approval from farmers in the field, it will be handed over to government agencies and farmers to effectively combat the locust attack. For the sake of public awareness, mass media campaigns are indispensable.

To establish an environment-friendly sustainable locust plague management system at national and provincial levels, long-term strategies need to be aptly adopted. For monitoring and surveillance of locust incidences, more efficient methods need to be developed.

Import of bio-control agents such as spore-forming microorganism and development of application methods for biological control against desert locusts in different geographical areas is quite plausible.

Moreover, an investigation should be made to find out natural enemies (predators and parasitoids) of desert locusts in highly invaded areas of the country. Microbial biopesticides should also be tested in desert areas against hopper bands. Phyto-chemical based biopesticides derived from indigenous medicinal plants could also be evaluated for their toxic and antifeedant properties against different life stages of locust.

Similarly, nanoparticle encapsulated formulations of synthetic and botanical insecticides should be developed for the efficient control of locust with a lower dose rate. Molecular studies are also required for gene silencing to induce sterility to reduce the egg-laying potential of locusts.

In Pakistan, there is no research and development centre for locust control. Thus, to face this challenge, the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, has recently set-up a full-fledged centre aiming at carrying out research related to locust control.

The writer is the vice-chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, May 25th , 2020