World’s Best Practice Locust and Grasshopper Management: Accurate Forecasting and Early Intervention Treatments Using Reduced Chemical Pesticide

World’s Best Practice management of locusts and grasshoppers requires accurate forecasting that helps determine where and when surveys are preferentially conducted so that infestations can be found quickly as part of ensuring early intervention treatments. Using survey data downloaded directly into a Geographic Information System (GIS), as well as rainfall and other factors important in the population dynamics of the species concerned, models within the GIS provide forecasts of future developments. The GIS provides forecasts of likely events and is used by locust and grasshopper experts to make decisions; that is, the forecasting is part of a Decision Support System for improved locust and grasshopper management. Surveys are generally conducted by ground vehicles, but for locusts, surveys by aircraft can be an important way to rapidly find bands. In Australia, dense bands can often be seen from an aircraft flying overhead at a height of 300 m, and similar detection of bands of the desert locust by aircraft has been conducted in Somalia. Swarms can be detected by ground vehicles, but because swarms move, surveying by aircraft is also an important way of locating swarms for treatment. When locust infestations are found, they are rapidly treated as part of early intervention preventive management. However, it is generally recognized that it is extremely difficult for landholders alone to protect crops against locusts and grasshoppers, so government intervention is often necessary. These organizations use a variety of treatment techniques to reduce the amount of chemical pesticide applied either by strip spraying or treating very dense infestations, such as roosting swarms, or using biopesticides. These techniques, as used in a number of countries, have proven to be very effective in managing locust populations while reducing the risk to the natural environment and human health.