Catch Brown Locusts before they hatch. Validated RNRRS Output.
Abstract
This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Summary for Project title: R7779: Forecasting outbreaks of the brown locust in southern Africa.
Forecasters in southern Africa can now predict swarms of locusts cost-effectively and accurately. Plagues of the Brown Locust are extremely destructive in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. They happen in at least seven out of ten years, often coinciding with droughts—a double whammy for poor farmers. Previously, warnings based on field surveys often came too late for farmers to take action. Forecasters in South Africa successfully used a new computer model—based on rainfall, vegetation, historical and satellite data—to show where locusts were likely to hatch out. They then warned farmers to prepare for outbreaks. Now, the governments of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana intend to use this system to strengthen control of locust and other migrating pests.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (10 pp.) taken from the CD.
Citation
CPP70, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 50.