This is the VOA SpecialEnglish AGRICULTURE REPORT.
Desert locusts are a threat to agriculture in many developingcountries. Large numbers of locusts can destroy crops in a fewhours. Locusts can eat as much food in one day astwo-thousand-five-hundred people. The insects also move quickly.They can travel more than one-hundred kilometers in a day.
The U-N Food and Agriculture Organization says desert locusts arefound in twenty-five countries. The countries cover an area ofsixteen-million square kilometers, from west Africa to India.
The local Ministry of Agriculture generally is responsible forlocust control. In some areas, international organizations offerassistance. Chemicals to control locusts can reduce the number ofinsects. However, some locusts have developed a resistance to thechemicals. Also, chemicals can be costly and harm the environment.
Desert locusts caused major crop damage betweenNineteen-Eighty-Seven and Nineteen-Eighty-Nine. Locust experts arepreparing for the next major attack.
Presently, teams investigate and collect information about thelocation of locusts. They send their reports to a national office.From there, the reports are sent to F-A-O headquarters.
Recently, United Nations officials described a method to ease thework of people studying the insects. The method involves satellitesin earth orbit and computers. F-A-O officials say teams now can usesatellites in a global positioning system, or G-P-S. It providesposition information to both military and civilian users all overthe world. Researchers studying locusts can identify their positionto within ten meters.
The team connects the G-P-S to a small hand-held computer. Thecomputer has a program for collecting information about locusts. Atthe end of the day, the team connects the computer to a specialradio in a vehicle. The radio sends the information to the nationaloffice through a special device.
F-A-O locust expert Keith Cressman says desert locust attacks canbegin suddenly. So it is important to be able to act quickly. Hesays this technology will help send information quickly andcorrectly. The new system should help experts warn countriesthreatened by desert locusts. It also should reduce the amount ofchemicals needed to kill the insects.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by GeorgeGrow.