On March 5,
the first batch of malathion production from Dezhou Lvba Fine Chemical Co., Ltd
was successfully sent by China’s Ministry of Agricultural and
Rural Affairs via a Chinese government private aircraft to Pakistan. Recently,
the outburst of desert locusts in Pakistan and surrounding countries has
severely affected the local ecological environment and production in the
farming industry. Some media reported that China would send 100,000 ducks to
Pakistan to combat locusts.
Based on news reports, Mr. Zhang, a professor at
China Agricultural University and a member in the locust disaster control
workgroup in China, said that the Chinese government so far has not made such plan
yet. “Using ducks to kill locusts is only applied to small-scale outbreaks or
under special conditions. For large-scale outbreaks, we suggest using emergency
measures to immediately control locusts, such as treatment with chemicals and
pesticides, the applications of microbial pesticides, and large-scale pesticide
spraying by aircraft.
According to research, the locusts in the locust disaster areas
in Pakistan have recently entered their mating season, leading to locusts
laying eggs in the sand. This usually does not cause great harm to the
environment, but once the eggs hatch and become larvae, the situation will be gravely
concerning. According to an expert, “larvae will not fly, and they will devour a
whole patch of field.” Expert groups believe that the locust disaster in
Pakistan will be severe and there may be risk of further outbreak.
China develops four-combination
plan to control current and future locust outbreaks
The Chinese workgroup has formulated a preventive treatment plan
for the locust disaster in Pakistan that aims to accurately monitor, manage,
and control the locust disaster with the support of cutting-edge technology.
The plan includes a combination of short term emergency treatment and long term
sustainable measures and a combination of chemical and environmental treatment.
Furthermore, the plan will utilize a combination of pesticide spraying by
aircraft and by machines on the ground, as well as a combination of control of
the locust disaster on a local scale and the protection from outside migrating
pests.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Food Security and Research entirely
agrees on the four-combination method put forward by China and appreciates the timely
rescue and emergency supplies offered by China. The head of Pakistan’s Ministry
of Food Security and Research said that China offered to help Pakistan with locust
control when Pakistan needed help the most, and that China considered Pakistan’s
difficulty as its own difficulty, which is another proof of the brotherhood
between China and Pakistan. He also said that in the future, Pakistan will
learn from China’s extensive experience and technology in controlling locusts.
China soon will offer professional consultative and technological support to Pakistan
and will provide emergency materials and equipment, as well as personnel
training, depending on Pakistan’s needs.
China
unlikely to face locust outbreak, but has response measures prepared
China’s
locust disaster control workgroup believes that the probability of desert
locusts invading China’s farmland is low. This is because the locust disaster
area in Pakistan is located in the desert region between a tropical zone and
subtropical zone. The environment in China does not match the natural habitat
of locusts. Additionally, China does not have any historical record of desert
locusts.
However,
some experts think that desert locusts may directly invade Tibet from Pakistan
and India, or they may spread from Yunnan province to Sichuan province via Myanmar,
or they may fly to Xinjiang through Kazakhstan. Recently, Yunnan province has
already developed a monitoring system to track desert locusts in case of a
locust outbreak in China. In Sichuan province, a headquarters for locust prevention
has been established, and chemicals and pesticides for combatting locusts and a
professional prevention group are ready.
For
more information about China’s pesticides market, please check our Insecticides
China News or email emarket1@cnchemicals.com.