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Agronomy
Special Issues
Locust and Grasshopper Management: Environmental Impacts and New Perspectives
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Locust and Grasshopper Management: Environmental Impacts and New Perspectives

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Pest and Disease Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 12662

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Michel Lecoq

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, CIRAD, F-34398 Montpellier, France
Interests: locusts; grasshoppers; locust control; locust biology; locust ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Long Zhang

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
1. College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
2. Institute of Plant Protection, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, China
Interests: insect; pheromone; semiochemicals; behavior; chemoreception; olfaction; insect pests management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In many countries around the world, locusts and grasshoppers are a threat to agriculture and livelihoods. One of the major problems in locust management is the use of chemical pesticides, rightly criticized for their side effects on human health, environment, nontarget organisms, and biodiversity. Alternatives that are more respectful of people and the environment have emerged over the past 20 years, with entomopathogenic fungi and Protozoa being the most promising to replace chemical pesticides. A lot of research has been done in particular in Africa (LUBILOSA project), Australia and China. Biopesticides are already used in some countries and commercial formulations are available. However, the use of these alternatives remains too limited. This new Special Issue will focus on the negative impacts of chemical pesticides in locust management, the most promising alternatives, the main obstacles to their diffusion and the best ways to overcome them.

Dr. Michel Lecoq
Prof. Dr. Long Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • locust control
  • biopesticide
  • environmental impact

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 2916 KiB  
Article
Comparison of the Virulence of Space Mutants of Aspergillus oryzae XJ-1 against Adult Locusta migratoria
by Xin Fu, Hui Liu, Xiao Xu, Jin Guo, Shaojing Hu, Yinwei You and Long Zhang
Agronomy 2024, 14(1), 116; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14010116 - 2 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1053
Abstract
Biological control methods provide a sustainable approach for reducing agricultural losses caused by locust plagues. Space mutagenesis can generate high numbers of mutations using satellites and spacecrafts, including beneficial and stable mutants. Aspergillus oryzae XJ-1 was recently reported to show high virulence against [...] Read more.
Biological control methods provide a sustainable approach for reducing agricultural losses caused by locust plagues. Space mutagenesis can generate high numbers of mutations using satellites and spacecrafts, including beneficial and stable mutants. Aspergillus oryzae XJ-1 was recently reported to show high virulence against locusts. We subjected this fungal pathogen to space mutagenesis to obtain more effective strains. Pathogen conidia powder was mutated in the China Space Station for 6 months. We obtained five mutants of A. oryzae XJ-1, TQ201, TQ238, TQ302, TQ549, and TQ555, and all mutants were identified as A. oryzae by molecular techniques. TQ549 showed the highest virulence against adult L. migratoria (LT50: 4.97 ± 0.21 days); the LT50 of A. oryzae XJ-1 was 5.67 ± 0.06 days. Both TQ549 and A. oryzae XJ-1 grew most rapidly at 33 °C on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates. There was no significant difference in the growth rate of TQ549 and A. oryzae XJ-1 at 24 °C. The colony morphological characteristics of the five mutants on PDA plates differed from that of A. oryzae XJ-1. The space mutant TQ549, which showed high virulence against adult locusts, could be used as a biological control agent for the control of locust infestations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Locust and Grasshopper Management: Environmental Impacts and New Perspectives)
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23 pages, 2364 KiB  
Article
Insecticide Use against Desert Locust in the Horn of Africa 2019–2021 Reveals a Pressing Need for Change
by Wim C. Mullié, Adam Prakash, Alexander Müller and Elena Lazutkaite
Agronomy 2023, 13(3), 819; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13030819 - 10 Mar 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 9405
Abstract
The desert locust upsurge in the Horn of Africa over 2019–2021 led to a total of 1.6 million ha being treated with broad-spectrum organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides in Ethiopia and Kenya, while insect growth regulators and the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum were applied [...] Read more.
The desert locust upsurge in the Horn of Africa over 2019–2021 led to a total of 1.6 million ha being treated with broad-spectrum organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides in Ethiopia and Kenya, while insect growth regulators and the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum were applied in Somalia. Environmental monitoring was largely absent, with limited surveys conducted in Kenya and Ethiopia. Overdosing of fenitrothion of a 960 g/L formulation in Kenya led to non-target mortality, including birds and honeybees. In Ethiopia, chlorpyrifos and malathion applications coincided with a honey production decline of 78% in 2020 compared to pre-upsurge levels. The use of M. acridum on nearly 253,000 ha was a breakaway from previous campaigns, in which its successful application in Somalia against both hopper bands and swarms shows that the persistent and pervasive use of organophosphate insecticides can no longer be justified. Furthermore, future procurement of organophosphate insecticides and possibly insect growth regulators could become increasingly problematic due to measures enacted by the European Union. It is recommended that the complementary impact of M. acridum and bird predation on locusts should be considered in an integrated management approach for both swarm and hopper control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Locust and Grasshopper Management: Environmental Impacts and New Perspectives)
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Review

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13 pages, 1830 KiB  
Review
World’s Best Practice Locust and Grasshopper Management: Accurate Forecasting and Early Intervention Treatments Using Reduced Chemical Pesticide
by David Hunter
Agronomy 2024, 14(10), 2369; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14102369 - 14 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1178
Abstract
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 [...] Read more.
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. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Locust and Grasshopper Management: Environmental Impacts and New Perspectives)
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