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Uzbekistan|life|October 19, 2022 / 02:16 PM
FAO conducts regional training on locust management in Samarkand

AKIPRESS.COM - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized the training of trainers on locust monitoring and information management from October 17 to October 21 under the scope of the JICA/Japan-funded project "Improvement of locust management in Central Asia" (Phase 2), UzA reported.

The training is conducted by Alexandre Latchininsky, Agricultural Officer (Locust management), member of the FAO "Locusts and Transboundary Plant Pests and Diseases" Team, and Nadiya Muratova, FAO Geographical Information System (GIS) Specialist.

Locusts pose a severe threat to agriculture and food security globally. According to the FAO, even a medium-sized swarm of locusts can destroy as many crops as would be enough to feed two and a half thousand people for a year.

The event brought together representatives of relevant institutions from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. During the training, they learn a lot about the capabilities of the Automated System for Data Collection (ASDC) and the Caucasus and Central Asian Locust Management System (CCALM).

"Introduction of the innovations, in particular, using GIS technologies brought locust management to a new level. The ASDC system is convenient for the fast and efficient conducting of locust field surveys, as well as for monitoring locust control using mobile devices. Improving the monitoring system will enhance early warning and timely response to the locust threat", Assistant FAO Representative in Uzbekistan Sherzod Umarov highlighted in his opening speech.

The training presented the history and spreading trends of locusts in Central Asia in the XXI century and guidelines on three main migrating types of locusts observed in the region: Italian Locust, Moroccan Locust and Asian Migratory Locust.

Stakeholders were informed about the natural enemies of locusts and their role in population dynamics as well as about perspective agents for biological control of locusts as opposed to the use of pesticides being harmful to the environment.

The training also focused on such issues as the climate change influence on locust plague, the usage of GIS technologies, and remote sensing methods for collecting and analyzing information on locusts.

During the training, the stakeholders learn the main functions of the ASDC and CCALM systems making it possible to receive data on the locusts spreading online using mobile devices. The training agenda also includes field trips enabling the participants to apply knowledge on ASDC in practice.

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