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afrol.com, 25 October - Scientists announced yesterday that they have successfully developed and implemented an environmentally safe, natural alternative to chemical insecticides in the fight against crop-destroying locusts and grasshoppers. Test spraying in Niger have proven successful. Swarms of locusts and grasshoppers have long plagued farmers around the world. The first commercial quantities of this new bio-pesticide were recently released in what is believed to be the largest aerial spraying of a bio-pesticide ever conducted in Africa. Early reports of the spraying in Niger indicate that the bio-pesticide provides complete control up to three times longer than do current chemical insecticides, making it less expensive and environmentally safe for farmers to protect their crops from locusts and grasshoppers. Scientists with the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) developed the natural pesticide over a ten-year period and will report the advance as part of the International Centers Week 2000 conference at the World Bank this week in Washington, D.C. IITA developed the bio-control as part of an international research consortium called LUBILOSA (LUtte BIologique contre les LOcustes et les SAuteriaux or Biological Control of Locusts and Grasshoppers).
"IITA and its partners have created a biological alternative that is highly effective and does not have many of the disadvantages of synthetic chemical pesticides," says Johnson. "Through commercial production of this new bio-pesticide, we hope to add a control option that is safer and more environmentally sound than the present range of chemical pesticides." The new control method uses a naturally occurring fungus-scientific name Metarhizium anisopliae-that is deadly to both locusts and grasshoppers, but does not damage other insects, plants, animals, or people. Once infected by the fungal preparation, locusts and grasshoppers die within four to ten days. The fungus strain currently used by scientists is indigenous to Africa, but strains from various origins can be used to produce the bio-control. This makes localized formulations possible. Scientists foresee the fungal formulation as having widespread use beyond Africa in other countries where grasshoppers and locusts are problem pests including the United States, Argentina, Australia, Indonesia, Spain, and Russia. In recent months, Texas farmers battled one of the worst outbreaks of grasshoppers in 30 years, and just this month the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a desert locust warning for Northern Mali. The per unit cost of using the bio-control-less than US$10 per hectare (US$4 per acre)-is approximately the same as conventional pesticides, but its overall usage cost is about one-third less because the fungus requires only one application per season. Unlike chemical insecticides, the fungal pathogen remains infective to grasshoppers and locusts for a longer time because it is a living organism and survives in the vegetation. The bio-pesticide also eliminates environmental and health costs associated with chemical pesticide applications.
"Local farmers living in the Sahelian region of Niger-where this first commercial release was made-had become accustomed to the quick kills produced by chemicals," says Lukas Brader, an entomologist and director general of IITA. "But the farmers soon realized that biological control-which protects their crops longer, for less money, and with fewer health hazards-serves their interests far better." Chemical insecticides kill beneficial small animals and insects as well as pose dangers to local peoples living in these areas. According to IITA scientists, the ongoing spraying of insecticides throughout Africa-including locations frequented by migratory birds-is contributing to large decreases in the numbers of migratory flocks in Europe. In addition to work conducted by IITA and CABI, CILSS-a regional cooperation agency made up of the Sahelian countries-and GTZ-the German Agency for Technical Cooperation-participated in this project. Financial support was provided by the governments of Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Future Harvest is a nonprofit organization that builds awareness and support for food and environmental research for a world with less poverty, a healthier human family, well-nourished children, and a better environment. Future Harvest supports research, promotes partnerships, and sponsors projects that bring the results of research to rural communities, farmers, and families in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Future Harvest is an initiative of 16 food and environmental research centers that receive funding from the CGIAR. Source: Future Harvest
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