Desert locusts do not pick food, fly faster than cars, cross-border migration increases the difficulty of prevention and control
Speaking of the most impressive scene of the working group's trip to Pakistan to control locusts, Xu Yubo, director of the Asian-African Division of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said: "The road conditions are very poor, sometimes there is no road, so the driver drives slowly. The speed of the desert locust It ’s much faster than ours, and it ’s unclear if you catch it with your mobile phone, just like a bomber, it flew by. ”
According to Xu Yubo, the desert locust "does not pick food" and has a wide range of recipes. It even eats cash crops such as cotton. One third of the desert areas in Pakistan are suitable for their survival; the reproductive ability is strong, and March to June is its spring During the breeding period, the eggs lay in the ground, and there are about 90 eggs in one egg column; the flight and migration speed are fast, which is very harmful to the vegetation in the desert and the surrounding farmland.
"Desert locust migration is cross-border, which is undoubtedly a lot more difficult for us. For example, on the India-Pakistan border, even if Pakistan is defending, if India does not control it, it will move back. The other direction is Iran. It will fly from Iran to Balochistan, Pakistan, which is a situation of double-strike. "Xu Yubo added.
China donates 50 "cannons" and looks forward to Pakistan's independent production in the future
To help Pakistan effectively control the locust disaster in the short term, China ’s first batch of aid materials arrived on March 9 by charter flight, the second batch of aid materials arrived by sea on April 11, and the third batch of aid materials arrived by the end of April Arrived, including 300 tons of malathion pesticide and 50 traction high-efficiency sprayers.
"Malathion is a low-toxic, environmentally friendly pesticide that has played a very important role in the history of locust control in China. 95% high content, better effect. 50 'cannon' (traction type) High-efficiency sprayer), relying on tractor traction, with a range of up to 100 meters in diameter, which is a hundred times more efficient than a handheld sprayer. "Xu Yubo said.
Since Pakistan cannot produce malathion, Chinese pesticide companies are mainly concentrated in the east, and the cost of transporting pesticides is relatively high. Xu Yubo believes that if Pakistan and China can strengthen cooperation in the pesticide industry in the future, build their own industrial chain, and have the ability to produce and store pesticides, once the locust disaster occurs, the management will be more timely.
Locust disaster superimposed epidemic has limited impact, Bardo sector is expected to expand exports to China
As of April 8, 87 locust breeding sites have been found throughout Pakistan, and there is a gradual increasing trend. Pakistan has deployed 230 prevention and control teams throughout the country. Based on the field investigation, the China Aided Pakistan Locust Disaster Prevention and Control Working Group put forward the general idea of prevention and control of “precision monitoring, zoning management, effective prevention and control, and technology support”. For the emergency control of chemical pesticides, long-term considerations should be taken to coordinate the application of ecological control, biological control, and scientific medication in accordance with different locust density and occurrence areas to promote the sustainable management of locust disasters.
The agricultural trade between China and Pakistan has remained normal. As far as the current situation is concerned, the impact of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic and the locust plague on Pakistan ’s agricultural production is limited, as is the impact on the agricultural trade between China and Pakistan. Whether the effect is good or not depends on how the eggs hatch after the adult takes off in May. Xu Yubo said, "Pakistan's agricultural processed products, beef and mutton livestock products, seafood products, fruits, etc. are expected to gain opportunities to further expand exports to the Chinese market. "(Economic Daily News-China Economic Net Chen Jinglin)