Tajikistan and Afghanistan are facing a dangerous Moroccan Locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus, or DMA) “situation level”, according to the latest Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) forecasting on invasive swarms of the crop-devouring pest.
The UN body reported: “A critical situation with DMA was reported in Afghanistan, due to low [anti-locust] treatments in 2022 and presumably also in 2023 with related population increase, and in Tajikistan with the risk of locust invading crops due to drought, mainly in the southern part of the country.”
DMA hatching and hopper development was in progress in all Central Asian countries as well as in Azerbaijan and in Georgia, the FAO added.
In total, added the FAO, 283,969 hectares were treated in Caucasus and Central Asia countries from the start of the 2023 campaign, which was by twice higher compared to 2022 in the same period (138,000 hectares).
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