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KAZAKHSTAN: Locust invasion in west under control, officials say

10 Jul 2007 08:40:02 GMT
Source: IRIN

ALMATY, 10 July 2007 (IRIN) - Officials in western Kazakhstan have denied local media reports that a locust invasion is threatening the region's harvest, saying the swarms of Italian locusts, which have hit the area, are nowhere near agricultural land.

"The situation is under control," Lavr Khayretdinov, head of West Kazakhstan Region's agricultural department, told IRIN from the regional capital of Oral on 9 July.

The Italian locust is an abundant insect and the most important pest in the Mediterranean and Saharan-Gobian regions. Many of its past invasions have taken place in these areas and the Eurasian grasslands.

Since the regions hit are not agricultural areas, there has been no damage to the harvest, Khayretdinov added. "The locusts have inflicted no damage on the region's economy," he said.

Agriculture Ministry officials fighting the invasion in the two affected areas - Zhanakala and Bokeyorda districts - also dismissed reports of a threat.

"The facts have been distorted," Bolat Dosmagambetov, head of Zhanakala District's agricultural department, told IRIN from the district centre. There had been no damage to agricultural land, of which there was only some 1,700 hectares in the district, he said, adding: "There were no Italian locusts on agricultural land. They emerged in sandy areas, where there is no agricultural land… No damage was done."

In neighbouring Bokeyorda District, just 400 hectares of land is sown with grain, a local official said. "This is a cattle-breeding district; we do not have much agriculture," Lauaz Ualiyev, head of Bokeyorda District's agricultural department, told IRIN. "There were no locusts near agricultural land."

Spraying

A total of 300,000 hectares of land has been sprayed with pesticides in West Kazakhstan Region, slightly up on last year's total of 280,000 hectares.

Some 45,000 hectares of land has been treated in Zhanakala District, up three times on last year's 15,000 hectares. In Bokeyorda District - where a light aircraft was deployed for the first time to speed up operations - 187,000 hectares has been sprayed, up from 142,000 hectares in 2006, although the district was hit by fewer locusts than last year, Ualiyev said. The spraying operation is now complete throughout West Kazakhstan Region.

Natural cycle

The invasion was part of a natural cycle for the Italian locust, which comes round every 10-12 years and is expected to peak between 2009 and 2011, Khayretdinov said: "[Numbers] will increase at that time, and afterwards there will be a decrease… It's a natural cycle. Some years we do not have to treat any land at all."

Kazakhstan was hit by a serious locust infestation in 1999, with up to seven million hectares of land invaded. Locusts moved into towns, covering streets and buildings, and spread to neighbouring countries, including Russia in the north and Uzbekistan in the south.

Officials are currently monitoring the movement of the locusts in West Kazakhstan Region, on Russia's southern border, but they do not expect the crop-devouring pests to invade Russia this year. "No-one can give a 100 percent guarantee, of course, but I don't think there is a threat," Ualiyev said. Russian agricultural officials are in the region observing the operation, he added.

Despite some cross-border liaison on the locust threat, there has been no progress on a four-year-old initiative to set up a formal Regional Locust Coordination Body to streamline operations.

Kazakhstan, which is annually plagued by locust invasions, has allocated US$1.5 million to fight locusts in 2007. Along with West Kazakhstan, southern regions such as Almaty, Kyzyl-Orda and South Kazakhstan Regions are regularly affected.

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Last updated:Tue Jul 10 08:41:51 2007