在馬達加斯加島發生蝗災一年多後，一個控制專案最終啟動了。大批蝗蟲破壞、毀掉了大面積的農田和牧場。
馬達加斯加目前正在進行空中和地面調查，以對這裡遷移的蝗蟲製作地圖。
Annie Monard是聯合國糧農組織(FAO)蝗蟲應對協調員，她目前在馬達加斯加，她是一年多前發出蝗蟲警報的人之一。
“這是一場災難，毫無疑問。因為大批蝗蟲逃離爆發地區，2012年4月宣佈蟲災發生。”
儘管蟲災應急宣佈了，有關反應卻很慢。這就導致蝗蟲蔓延到西南部，導致那裡氾濫成災。
蟲災問題開始於幾年前，當時由非洲發展銀行資助的最後的控制專案剛結束。FAO於2010年、2011年和2012年啟動應急項目，但並未能阻止蟲災繼續蔓延。
“我們和FAO多年來所做的總是促進所謂的預防性控制戰略，不幸的是，總存在一些不能應用預防戰略的情況，這就導致蟲災越來越惡化，一直導致目前的局面。”
去年年底，Monard說馬達加斯加的農業部長請求FAO幫助發展一個新的噴灑項目。目前該項目被制定為三個階段，時間在今年10月到2016年9月之間。這項三年項目的總成本超過4100萬美元。
“目前我們收到很多捐贈者為第一年預算提供的説明，但我們仍需努力得到以後兩年預算的援助。”
FAO已為第一年的項目籌資了2300萬美元。
噴灑主要是在蝗蟲跳蟲的地帶上，當時蝗蟲還沒有翅膀。跳蟲對那些對環境有較小危害的殺蟲劑很敏感，包括那些含有真菌的殺蟲劑。除了直接噴灑跳蟲外，殺蟲劑還可用來製造隔離帶或緩衝區。殺蟲劑被噴灑到每600到800米的地面上。
估計有1300萬人處於危險中，其中約900萬人直接依賴於農業來獲取食物和收入。在有的地區，70%的水稻和玉米已被毀掉。隨著控制項目的實施，這些蝗蟲有望轉移到產量更高的北方農田裡。
More than a year after a locust plague was declared in Madagascar, a control program finally is about to begin. Massive swarms of the insects have damaged or destroyed large areas of cropland and pastures.
Aerial and ground surveys are underway in Madagascar to map the locations of the Malagasy migratory locust swarms.
Annie Monard, locust response coordinator for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, currently is in Madagascar. Monard was among those who sounded the alarm over a year ago.
“It is a plague – no doubt concerning that. It’s a plague because numerous locust swarms escaped the outbreak area. The declaration of plague was made in April 2012.”
Betroka Region, Southern Madagascar - A dense swarm of locusts as seen during spraying operations, May 29, 2011. ?FAO/Yasuyoshi Chiba
Despite the announcement of a locust emergency, the response was slow to develop. That allowed the swarms to spread even further from the southwest where they’re endemic.
The problem began several years earlier when the last control program – funded by the African Development Bank – ended. The FAO launched emergency campaigns in 2010, 2011 and 2012, but they were not enough to stop the locust plague from developing.
“What we did and what FAO does for many, many years is always to promote what we call preventive control strategy. Unfortunately, there are always some situations during which it is not possible to apply the preventive strategy; and progressively the locust situation deteriorated, arising at the level we have now,” she said.
Then late last year, Monard said Madagascar’s agriculture minister requested the FAO’s help in developing a new spraying campaign. That is now scheduled to be conducted in three stages, between October of this year and September 2016. Total cost of the three-year campaign is over $41-million.
“For the time being, we got from a wide range of donors the budget for the first year. But we have still to advocate and to get the budget for the two following campaigns, which will allow us and allow the country to go back to a recession situation,” she said.
The FAO has raised $23 million dollars for the first year of the campaign.
The focus of the spraying will be on hopper bands, when the locusts are still wingless. Hoppers are more sensitive to pesticides that are less harmful to the environment, including those that contain a fungus. Besides spraying hoppers directly, pesticides will be used to create barriers or buffer zones. This is done by spraying the ground every 600 to 800 meters.
It’s estimated that of the 13 million people at risk, about nine million are directly dependent on agriculture for food and income. In some regions, 70 percent of the rice and maize crops have been damaged. As the control program gets underway, the locusts are expected to move to the north where the more productive agricultural lands are located.
