The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (MoAFWR) said that a recent desert locust survey and control campaign that it conducted in various governorates indicates that the current situation of desert locusts in the Sultanate of Oman is stable and under observation.
The ministry explained that the campaign monitored the status of the desert locust in terms of propagation, breeding locations and the availability of a suitable environment for the insect’s reproduction, including wild vegetation and soil moisture as a result of recent rainfall.
Dr Tarik bin Hamoud al Mandhari, Head of the Pest Control Department at the MoAFWR, said that the ministry is regularly monitoring the situation in various governorates of the Sultanate of Oman through field surveys and exploration operations at local locust breeding sites to detect all developments and deal with them as early as possible.
Al Mandhari pointed out that monitoring operations carried out in the governorates of Al Wusta, Al Sharqiyah North and Al Sharqiyah South — from December 22 to January 20 — unveiled the presence of desert locust groups technically classified as “individual cases” and “transitional cases”. The operations enabled the Ministry to intervene early by conducting a successful campaign, he added.
The desert locust poses a big threat to food security and it causes significant economic damage. The insect takes only three weeks to grow into the adult age that can last from 90 to 150 days.
The economic damage caused by desert locusts is significant. A small swarm of desert locusts covering an area of 1 square kilometre can consume a daily amount of food that is sufficient for 35,000 people. Each adult desert locust can consume a daily amount of food that is equivalent to its own weight. — ONA
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