GENERAL SITUATION AS OF 21 JANUARY 1998
Desert Locust numbers significantly increased during the past month along the coastal plains of both sides of the Red Sea. Control operations are in progress in Sudan and Saudi Arabia against swarms and in Eritrea against hopper bands. Breeding is underway in Saudi Arabia and Eritrea. A second generation of breeding has started in Sudan. Conditions are expected to remain favourable to allow a further increase of locusts along the coastlines of Sudan, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia. Although the situation is considered to be under control, extreme vigilance must be maintained. Elsewhere, the situation is reported to be calm.
New information received since the last update (18 December 1997) indicates that the main areas currently affected are the Red Sea coastal plains of Sudan and Eritrea between Massawa and Port Sudan and the coastal plains of Saudi Arabia between Jeddah and Qunfidah. In Sudan, aerial and ground control operations treated nearly 8,000 ha of hopper bands from mid December to early January. By the second week of January, remaining hoppers had fledged and were forming swarms. In Tokar Delta, a second generation of laying started around the 10th. Due to its inaccessibility, no operations could be carried out between Tokar Delta and the Eritrean border where other bands and swarms are thought to be present. Further north, conditions were drying out in Wadi Oko/Diib where an immature swarm and scattered mature adults were seen in mid January. In Egypt, a small immature swarm was reported on 5 January on the coastal plains near the Sudan border. Several immature swarms appeared from the south on southerly winds on 17-21 January. These were treated, covering 9,700 ha. In Eritrea, aerial control operations started on 13 January and, so far, less than 5,000 ha of small hopper bands have been treated between Massawa and the Sudan border by ground and air. Many of the infestations are in cropping areas, mixed with African Migratory Locusts and solitary Desert Locust adults. There have been no reports yet of swarm formation.
In Saudi Arabia, solitarious adults were scattered along the coastal plains near Jeddah in late December. Mature swarms were reported and seen laying eggs from 6 January onwards further south near Qunfidah. Control operations have treated nearly 3,400 ha so far. These swarms are probably a combination of a local build-up possibly supplemented by adults and swarms coming from the western shore of the Red Sea. Only low numbers of solitarious adults have been seen on the coast of Yemen near the Saudi Arabian border.
Present infestations are expected to persist for at least another month or until vegetation begins to dry. As conditions continue to remain favourable and more rains have fallen during January, further breeding will occur and numbers will increase in the coming weeks along the coastal plains. There may be some limited swarm movement north and south as well as across the Red Sea but this will remain confined to the coastal plains of those countries presently affected.
Elsewhere, a few isolated solitarious adults and hoppers are present in the Guelb Er Richat area of northern Mauritania. No significant developments are expected.
Other Locusts
African Migratory Locust (AML). The situation is still worrisome in Madagascar where aerial and ground control operations are in progress against hopper bands and swarms of AML and Red Locust. The Director-General of FAO has appealed to the international donor community for assistance. In Cameroon, only scattered adults are present in the north near the Logone River. The situation is calm in Chad.