During the workshop they noted that in recent years there has been a strong
growth in the number of locust incidences that have caused problems for crops.
Just google Russia locust and you’ll soon get the idea why
the Ministry of Agriculture is concerned, a swarm can strip a standing crop in
minutes.
It’s been a long time since I did some post grad studies on
locusts but from what I remember once their food source starts to diminish and
they come in close contact with each other, serotonin is released causing them
to change from the humble grasshopper and into a swarming hoard of voracious
locusts.
The last couple of summers in the north Caucuses has been
hot and dry leading to a depletion in the grasshoppers food resulting in
locust swarms that moved further north and west into important cropping regions
of southern Russia.
The Ministry of Agriculture technical centre has provided
the regional branches with an action plan of control measures to combat locust
pests which I guess involves aviation fuel, stockpiles of organophosphorus and
crossed fingers.
While swarms in the past have been devastating (see pic from southern Russia) they have been
relatively localised covering tens of thousands of hectares, the fear being that
if they swarm early enough and cover hundreds of thousands of hectares then
they could really do some damage to Russia’s grain output.
For 2017 the Ministry has planned to allocate funds that, in
the event of a swarm, will provide control over 800,000 hectares.
That’s planned mind, not allocated yet.