Vietnam prepares to face locust invasion

ECONOMY-SCIENTIFIC-TECHNOLOGY

06 June 2020 | 07:24:00 AM

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has made plans to deal with the coming locust plague including using military and weather radars to detect the locus.

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According to the ministry, locust plague has been in several countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. They ravaged Pakistan and arrived in India in late May. There's a chance that they will cross India to arrive in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, China and Vietnam.

It's important to monitor the travelling path of the locusts and the invasion development. A remote alert will be raised when the locusts arrive in Bangladesh and a more urgent alert will be raised when they arrive in Myanmar, Laos or China.

Vietnam also needs an emergency plan if the locusts arrive in Vietnam without passing through previously mentioned countries.

The ministry suggested using military and weather radars to detect and monitor the locusts and prepare suitable pesticide spraying equipment for desert locusts. If the locust swarm is too widespread, a steering committee may be set up to mobilise the air force and chemical army branch to spray pesticide in places that are far from residential areas.

According to Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, millions of locusts were found to have covered 2,400 square metres of land in East African countries. They travelled at a speed of 13 km per hour and quickly destroyed the crops and threatened aviation safety. Up to 60 countries may be affected and one-fifth of the crops in the world will be damaged.

As of May 27, the locusts were still breeding and branching out.

Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said a locust swarm could easily cover several kilometres and often travels with the winds. From afar, a large locust swarm looks like a black cloud moving at the height of 1,500 to 2,000 metres.

(tienphong, dtinews.vn)

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