Desert Locust Guidelines


Book Description

The Desert locust plague of 1986-89 and the subsequent upsurges in the 1990s demonstrate the continuing capacity of this historic pest to threaten agriculture and food security over large parts of Africa, the Near East and southwest Asia. They emphasize the need for a permanent system of well-organized surveys of areas that have recently received rains or been flooded, backed up by control capability to treat hoppers and adults efficiently in an environmentally safe and cost-effective manner. Given the certainty that there will be future Desert locust upsurges, FAO produced this series of guidelines primarily for use by national and international organisations and institutions involved in Desert locust survey and control. The guidelines comprise: 1. Biology and behaviour; 2. Survey; 3. Information and forecasting; 4. Control; 5. Campaign organization and execution; 6. Safety and environmental precautions. Appendixes (including an index) are provided for easy reference by readers.

























Manual for the implementation of environmental, health, and safety standards for the control of locusts


Book Description

The Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Standard Operation Procedures (SOP) for the control of the Desert Locust define the procedures that should be followed in a Desert Locust control campaign to minimize the impact of the use of insecticides on human health and the environment. This Manual for the implementation of SOPs for EHS has been developed to support the person responsible for the implementation of EHS at the National Locust Control Unit (NLCU). The Manual should facilitate the programming of activities to be carried out, structure the documentation of the state of implementation, and allow relatively easy monitoring of the extent to which the EHS has been achieved by the managers of the NLCU or by third parties. The Manual presents a "model approach" for the implementation of the EHS. However, this approach is flexible and should not be applied too rigorously but adapted to the national situation and the specific organization of NLCU. The objectives of the Manual are to: ?clarify responsibilities for the implementation of each Standard Operation Procedure (SOP); ?plan the activities to be carried out; ?allow the internal monitoring of the implementation process; ?ensure complete documentation of the implementation process; ?facilitate the external audit; and ?allow an easy adaptation to the national situation




Technical guidance on desert locust – Early warning system and sustainable management of transboundary pests, with special reference to desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria [Forskål]) in South Asia


Book Description

Although locusts are a type of grasshopper, they differ physiologically and in their behaviour. When environmental conditions allow, locusts multiply rapidly so that billions of them can aggregate and migrate vast distances devouring every growing green thing in their path. Plagues of locusts have occured for a long time and are even referenced in the Old Testament of the Bible. The magnitude of damage and crop loss that they can cause is enormous and beyond imagination. They have been the cause of starvation across continents in the past. The desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskål) is the most widespread and destructive of all locust species. When they invade they can cover about 30 million square kilometres and can include all or parts of 64 countries in the northwest and east of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and central Asia, including Afghanistan, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan, among others.