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UNO: â€œLocust attack expected to Azerbaijani sowing areasâ€

20 May 2011 08:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementieva â€“ APA. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) FAO will assist ten countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus to save up to 25 million hectares of cultivated farmland from a locust crisis. Locusts are a serious threat for agriculture, food security and livelihoods in both regions including adjacent areas of northern Afghanistan and the southern Russian Federation. A five-year program to develop national capacities and launch regional cooperation is about to start thanks to assistance from the United States of America. Support from other donors is expected soon. In all, ten countries are at risk: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. These migrant pests, able to fly up to 100 kilometers a day, are extremely opportunistic, adapting quickly to changing weather patterns, including those associated with climate change. The program promotes preparedness, early warning and early reaction. It also seeks to introduce new techniques for locust control using less environmentally hazardous pesticides, including bio-pesticides.

A major contribution to this program was recently received from USAID ($1.6 million) and negotiations are underway with other donors such as the Russian Federation, France and Turkey, which indicated their willingness to support the approach.