June 22, 2001. Copyright 2001. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

Locust plague Óworst natural disaster in 40 yearsÓ - Russian TV  LONDON, June 22, Graphic News: Locusts don't have many friends, which is perhaps why the crop-eating pests par excellence are so keen to hang out together. But the infestations now afflicting vast swathes of the planet, from southern Russia, through Georgia, Kazakhstan and into China, threaten to see locusts assemble in numbers not seen for decades. 

Hot, dry weather across the region has created the ideal breeding grounds for the plague that, until now, has mostly advanced Ð like the locust's grasshopper cousin Ð by hopping and walking. But as the insects mature and sprout wings, a process scientists predict will begin in the next few days, they will be capable of travelling up to 60km a day with devastating consequences. 

Alone, locusts Ð which grow to around 5cm long and average around 2.5g are fairly harmless. But contact with large numbers of their species stimulates sensors on their hind legs, triggering synchronized or, as some experts describe it, "gregarious" behaviour. Once compelled to swarm, they can form a migratory cloud of millions, capable of devouring a field's vegetation in a few hours. 

Once locusts are airborne, there is little that can be done to halt their spread. Consequently, pest control agencies are scrambling aeroplanes and ground forces in a bid to kill the insects before they grow wings. The Russian government has allocated US$300,000 to spray pesticides across the southern Stavropol region and the republic of Dagestan, where locusts have already destroyed 12,000 hectares of wheat in the worst attack in 40 years.

In China, which is suffering from prolonged drought, locusts have infested around 8 million hectares of land in 15 provinces Ð some of which had seldom seen the insects before. In the worst-hit regions of Hainan province and Xinjiang, the density is reported to have reached as many as 10,000 insects per square metre.

The state, which has set aside US$3m for pesticide treatment, has also deployed a more imaginative biological weapon: the duck. Hundreds of thousands of specially trained web-footed warriors have been dispatched to Xinjiang where they are each expected to feast on 2kg of locusts a day.

They question is whether Ð faced with the scale of the problem and limited resources - enough can be done to avert their potentially crippling impact. The difficulty in gathering prompt, accurate intelligence on the whereabouts of small, fast-moving insects, has always given the locusts an advantage over their human hunters. However, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which monitors locust infestations, hopes satellite technology will soon put pests on the back foot. A global positioning system  Ð as used by sailors and hikers Ð has been recently introduced in 18 countries, helping to pinpoint locusts to within 10 metres.
/ENDS Sources: Reuters, Lubilosa, UN Food and Agriculture Organization