"If desert locust disasters continue to erupt in countries such as Pakistan and India, there is a risk of invading China's Tibet from May to June 2020." Recently, the Academy of Aerospace Information Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced the results of the above research. Whether the snowy plateau can block the ancient and highly destructive migratory pests such as Desert Locust has become the focus of external attention.
The picture shows the Jilong Customs officers under Lhasa Customs conducting desert locust monitoring within 2 kilometers of the port boundary. Photo courtesy of Lhasa Customs
Desert locusts are less likely to harm Tibet
The reporter learned from the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the 11th that data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ("FAO") indicates that the desert locust disaster that began in Africa may continue until June 2020. At that time, the number of its population will reach more than 500 times. At present, the number of desert locusts in East Africa alone has reached 360 billion, and Pakistan and many African countries have declared a state of emergency.
In the face of the "Global Alert" issued by FAO, some experts believe that the Himalayas, which stretch more than 2,400 kilometers from east to west, 200 to 300 kilometers from north to south, and an average altitude of 4,000 meters or more, are a natural barrier. The possibility of invading Tibet directly from Pakistan and India.
The picture shows the Geelong Port on the border between China and Nepal, located between the Himalayas, with beautiful scenery. Photo by He Penglei
In this regard, the reporter interviewed Wang Wenfeng, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry New Technology Introduction and Development of the Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences of Tibet Autonomous Region, and director of the Lhasa Pest and Wildlife Observation Experiment Station of the Ministry of Agriculture of China.
Wang Wenfeng said that external concerns about desert locusts are mainly based on its biological characteristics, namely its strong flight ability and large appetite. "The desert locust originated in Africa. Unlike the Tibetan migratory locust, its breeding and hatching have special environmental requirements. When the locust eggs are below 18 ° C and above 45 ° C, the locust eggs cannot develop. When the temperature is 20 ° C or below At 20 ° C, the locust pupae activity weakened. Around 40 ° C is the condition for the migration activities of pupae and adult locusts. The relative humidity for the normal development and rapid maturation of locust pupae and bisexual adults needs to be above 60%. Population numbers, creating harm. "
The picture shows Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, the main peak of the Himalayas. Photo by He Penglei
In addition, Wang Wenfeng told reporters that desert locusts fly at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level, making it difficult to cross the Himalayas. "Of course, it may cause invasion at slightly lower altitudes or in the gaps in the mountains, but Tibet's cold and dry natural environment is not suitable for its reproduction."
Wang Wenfeng said that if the desert locust is affected by the Indian Ocean monsoon and moves from India to Myanmar through Bangladesh, it may enter China from the direction of Yunnan. However, Nepal, India and Tibet, the main spreading area of desert locusts, should also strengthen Nepal in southern Tibet. , India's adjacent area monitoring. Large-scale entry from Tibet is unlikely.
The picture shows the Jilong Customs officers under Lhasa Customs conducting desert locust monitoring within 2 kilometers of the port boundary. Photo courtesy of Lhasa Customs
Tibet takes multiple measures to implement real-time early warning and monitoring
Although the risk of desert locusts invading snowy plateaus is low, the Tibet Forestry and Grass Bureau, Lhasa Customs and other departments have initiated prevention and control monitoring work, and issued specific prevention and control and emergency plans.
The reporter learned from the Grassland Management Office of the Tibet Forestry and Grass Bureau that Tibet has opened seven national center monitoring stations and 24 provincial monitoring stations for monitoring and early warning of grassland pests, and issued a "Notice on Improving Desert Locust Emergency Prevention and Control Work" ", Requiring the forestry and grassland departments in all cities, especially frontier frontier counties, townships and villages to strengthen prevention, pay close attention to the development of locusts in neighboring India, Pakistan, Nepal and other countries, understand the situation of monsoon activities, and report and issue early warning information in a timely manner.
At the same time, the Tibet Forestry and Grass Bureau co-ordinated a total of 21.87 million yuan from the 2020 grassland ecological restoration and control subsidy funds for the purchase and storage of grassland locust control agents and equipment (including equipment, protection, etc.) in the region in 2020.
The picture shows the Lhasa Customs staff carrying out desert locust monitoring at the Alipuland port. Photo courtesy of Lhasa Customs
In addition, the Tibet Autonomous Region Biological Disaster Prevention and Emergency Command Headquarters also issued the Emergency Plan for Grassland Grasshopper Disaster Prevention and Control in the Tibet Autonomous Region, which clarified the prevention and control objectives, working principles and safeguard measures, as well as various response level indicators and corresponding countermeasures. Reasonably divided the responsibilities and tasks of each department.
Wang Wenfeng told reporters that China's locust control system is very complete, and related research is also leading in the world. A four-level locust monitoring and early warning system led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China has been established, and a mature Tibetan locust control mechanism has been formed in Tibet. A relatively complete monitoring and early warning system and prevention and control system have been established. Once the damage occurs, you can respond quickly, control the rule, and eliminate the locust plague in the bud. To cope with possible locust disasters, the Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences of the Tibet Autonomous Region has also compiled the "Technical Reference Plan for Tibetan Grasshopper Prevention and Control in Tibetan Agricultural Areas and the Farming-Pastoral Ecotone".
The picture shows the Lhasa Customs staff carrying out desert locust monitoring at the eastern port of Xigaze. Photo courtesy of Lhasa Customs
As a scientific researcher, Wang Wenfeng has carried out a lot of research on the catastrophe law of Tibetan migratory locusts, monitoring and early warning, and biological control. In terms of monitoring, the environmental factors and human activities such as the temporal and spatial pattern of locust occurrence and the climatic conditions within the locust occurrence period and time period obtained from remote sensing monitoring at the landscape scale were analyzed, and the main driving factors leading to the locust disaster were analyzed. Preliminary forecasts can be made over a wide range. It is reported that by continuously improving the accuracy of remote sensing monitoring, it will effectively improve forecasting efficiency and save manpower and financial costs, especially in the case of Tibet's large area and small number of people, it will play a very prominent role.
In addition, the Lhasa Customs has begun to manually monitor the surrounding areas of the Tibet border land ports such as Zhangmu, Yadong, Geelong, and Puland, and strengthen the quarantine work of incoming goods and transportation vehicles. Multi-channel and multi-faceted collection of Nepal and India Desert locust-related information, analysis and research on the spread speed and route of the overseas locust plague epidemic, no desert locust invasion has been found.
The picture shows the occurrence of endangered locusts in Tibet. Photo courtesy of Wang Wenfeng
Complete locust control system in Tibet
In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Tibetan migratory locusts and grassland caterpillars are listed as two grassland pests. Wang Wenfeng said that although there is no record of desert locust chaos, the Tibetan migratory locust mainly distributed in the Lhasa River Valley, Shiquan River Basin, Jinsha River Basin and other places has also affected the production and development of local agriculture and animal husbandry. Above 1 million acres.
Wang Wenfeng said that the Tibetan migratory locust has little effect on Tibetan crops, and only sporadic occurrences occur in farmland. Even if there is a trend of outbreaks on the grassland, thanks to the current relatively complete control system, under effective monitoring and material guarantees, timely prevention and control can be carried out, and it can be prevented and controlled before it becomes a major hazard.
The picture shows the Tibetan migratory locust after control. Photo courtesy of Wang Wenfeng
Wang Wenfeng said that the Tibetan migratory locust is one of the three major migratory locusts that have occurred in China, and there are many ways to prevent and control it. For example, the number of locust eggs of the Tibetan migratory locust and its population in the previous year are surveyed every year, and the occurrence of the next year is predicted based on meteorological data. If a large amount is predicted, emergency prevention and control will be carried out in advance, and chemical prevention and control measures will be adopted.
In addition, Wang Wenfeng revealed that they have also made a lot of attempts in the field of biological control. Unlike herding ducks in Xinjiang, Tibetan researchers mainly use microorganisms to infect and cause locusts, such as microspores and fungi.
The picture shows the Tibetan migratory locust infected by Beauveria bassiana under test conditions. Photo courtesy of Wang Wenfeng
According to Wang Wenfeng, this kind of microorganisms has a significant effect in controlling locusts. Taking microspores as an example, it can rapidly feed as the food enters the digestive tract of the locust, while consuming a large amount of energy substances in the locust, causing its physical strength to decline until it dies. At the same time, microspores can also cause locust spawning to decline and inhibit their colony migration behavior. They can also continuously suppress locust damage for many years.
The picture shows the Tibetan migratory locust infected by Metarhizium anisopliae under test conditions. Photo courtesy of Wang Wenfeng
In addition, Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana can also cause infection between locusts, thereby killing them in large numbers. However, Wang Wenfeng also said that although biological control does not pollute the environment and is harmless to humans and livestock, the control cycle is longer and the effect is slow, and the strong ultraviolet rays on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will also affect it. Now they are studying how to control the locusts faster, safer and more efficiently according to local conditions.
Reporter: Zhang Wei