Senasa confirmed a strong reduction in one of the two locust clouds in AR

On Thursday, July 23, technical teams from the National Health and Agro-Food Quality Service (Senasa) monitored the locust cloud located near the Federation, Entre Ríos (AR), where the cloud decreased in terms of population density.

Upon entering the country, it is estimated that it occupied approximately 15 km², and now has a size of approximately 10 km², thanks to controls carried out in Santa Fé and Corrientes (AR), when climatic and environmental conditions allowed it.

The complexity of pest control is given by several factors that affect the possibility of carrying out treatments, the displacement of the pest and its great flight power, the difficult to access places where it is usually installed and also the existence of a nearby population, courses of water and beehives, among others.

A meeting was held in which the director of the Entre Ríos Regional Center, Maximiliano Villone, and technicians from the Agency's National Locust and Cattle Program, representatives of the Entre Ríos Citrus Federation (Fecier), the Rural Society, the Fight Foundation against Foot and Mouth Disease (Fucofa) and air applicators from the province of Entre Ríos. At the meeting, the intervention strategy was analyzed.

In this sense, the aerial application of phytosanitary treatments, scheduled for Friday, July 24, also had to be suspended due to weather conditions. The fog prevented it from being carried out. Land applications could be carried out by producers in the region.

At midday, the cloud of locusts slowly flew towards the east, where it established itself after moving about 4 km near road 14. It is currently installed in that location and has not registered any movements so far due to weather factors.

As for the cloud of locusts in the province of Chaco (AR), the Senasa team is monitoring the General Department Güemes to find the exact location, which on Tuesday, July 21, crossed the Bermejo river in Formosa (AR) .