Map monitors cloud of locusts that invaded Argentina on the border

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) received information from the Argentine National Agro-Food Health and Quality Service (Senasa) about a cloud of locusts of the species Schistocerca cancellatthe one that is close to the border with Brazil. According to climate monitoring being carried out by Argentine experts, the plague should head towards Uruguay. However, considering the proximity to the border region of Brazil, Mapa issued an alert to the Federal Superintendencies of Agriculture, with a view to state Agricultural Defense bodies so that appropriate measures can be taken to monitor and guide farmers in the region, especially in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, for the eventual adoption of pest control measures if this cloud enters Brazilian territory.

According to the General Coordination of Plant Protection of Mapa, Brazilian phytosanitary authorities are in permanent contact with their Argentine, Bolivian and Paraguayan counterparts through the Locust Technical Group of the Plant Health Committee – COSAVE, which has allowed monitoring of the matter in real time, with the aim of adopting the appropriate measures to minimize the effects of a possible outbreak of the plague in Brazil. This pest has been present in Brazil since the 1930th century and caused great losses to rice crops in the southern region of the country in the 1940s and XNUMXs. Since then, it has remained in its “isolated” phase that does not cause damage to crops, as it does not forms so-called “locust clouds”. 

Recently, it once again caused damage to agriculture in South America, in its gregarious phase (cloud formation). The factors that led to the resurgence of this pest in its most aggressive phase in the region are still being evaluated by experts and may be related to a combination of climatic factors, such as temperature, rainfall and wind dynamics.