New locust clouds detected in northern Argentina

Two new clouds of locusts have been detected in northern Argentina. One near the Bermejo River, on the border between Formosa and Chaco and the other in the Formosa city of Ingeniero Juárez. The first for permanent monitoring carried out by the National Health and Agro-Food Quality Service (Senasa) and the other for a producer's complaint.

On Monday, July 27, a report was received about the location of a new cloud of locusts coming from Paraguay, in the city of Ingeniero Juárez, 60 kilometers from the border with the province of Salta (AR).

Senasa teams toured the area to assess its size and behavior. With temperatures between 16 and 19 degrees and a south wind, on Wednesday, July 29, the cloud recorded a short movement, located about 15 kilometers northwest of Ingeniero Juárez (AR).

Furthermore, on Tuesday, July 28, a meeting of the Salta-Jujuy Crisis Committee was held to analyze the intervention strategy to be carried out if locusts enter the territory of Salta.

On the other hand, the insect cloud that is located in the vicinity of the Bermejo River and was detected on July 20 in the city of Guadalcazar through surveillance tasks by Senasa, moved to Chaco, where monitoring teams from the latter province were monitoring the department General Güemes (AR).

From then until July 29th, the locust cloud was located near the Bermejo River, being seen, according to complaints, on both sides of the provinces.

"The plague is in an area of ​​high mountains that makes vision difficult and difficult to access, due to few roads and the presence of rivers and streams. At the end of the week, the possible increase in temperature and northerly winds could drag the cloud towards Chaco with significant speed,” explained Julio González, a reference to locusts in Chaco.

Finally, in Entre Ríos, treatments were carried out focused on forest areas, where locusts were found. Surveillance continues throughout the area where populations that deserve control are detected and should be carried out in the coming days.

The objective is to control the remaining locusts to prevent them from completing the cycle and laying eggs, which would lead to a local generation of the plague.