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Desert Locust

Desert Locust is considered to be one of the most dangerous pests that threaten crop production and food security. It might be the oldest registered pest for its danger and great ability to live and breed under various ecological and climatic regimes in vast areas covering 29 million square kilometers, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to India and Pakistan in the east, and comprising the whole area or parts of 64 countries.

Since Desert Locust is one of the pests that has a capacity to fly long distances and migrate very fast, it is considered to be an international pest that neither a single nor a number of countries are able to control without the collaboration of all concerned. Consequently, it was viewed that the Desert Locust breeding areas should be divided into three major regions: Eastern, Central and Western regions, so that survey and control is blocked within each region and does not spread to the other regions. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has taken the responsibility of coordinating the Desert Locust management in these three regions, in addition to encouraging further studies and research in the field of Desert Locust management, which will prevent future locust occurrence and invasions.

In view of the wide-range of terms and local expressions, of the limited availability of specialized scientific locust glossaries and of the rapid scientific and technological developments, it was felt necessary to issue an inclusive, simplified and clear glossary in three languages: Arabic, English and French. This glossary includes scientific and technical terms, expressions and idioms that are commonly and frequently used in the field of locust and grasshoppers; and it meets the urgent need of professionals and all other concerned in both applied and research activities in the three regions.

In this respect, the working paper on preparing and producing an encyclopaedic glossary was presented and endorsed by the 24th Session of FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC) in April 2004 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was agreed by the Commission that the draft of both English and Arabic versions, after being prepared by an expert, would be circulated to all concerned such as universities, research centers and scientific institutes in order to gather views and comments.

Consequently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations selected one of the eminent experts in the Central Region, Professor Mahmoud Fahmy Harb, from the Plant Protection Research Institute in Egypt. He was the consultant who took over this task, in view of his deep knowledge and extensive scientific and practical experience in the field. Initially, he devoted himself to preparing the glossary in English by compiling most of the English expressions, terms and scientific idioms which are relevant to locust field and allied sciences and presenting their meanings and explanations, utilizing each and every available resource.

After circulation of the English draft of the glossary, the feedback was inserted in the English final version and the Arabic draft was prepared, in which, the consultant not only presented the corresponding Arabic meaning, word by word, but also added more meanings and explanations whenever necessary, as there are different dialects in the Arabic speaking countries.

The Arabic version of the glossary was also widely circulated for comments and views, and subsequently, it was dispatched to the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region in order to be prepared into French.

In this regard, we would like to express our sincere appreciation and deep gratitude to Professor Mahmoud Fahmy Harb, for his acknowledged hard work and time spent over three years in preparing this glossary which contains more than three thousand concepts. We also wish to thank our colleagues who participated in the completion of the glossary by sending us their suggestions and comments. A special thanks goes also to Dr. Munir Butrous, Secretary of the Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region, for his endeavours and time given to valuable discussions, suggestions, technical and scientific advices during the course of this work, and for revising the final versions of the English/English and English/Arabic glossaries.

We welcome everyone who will take advantage of this glossary and also who would like to develop this work further by adding or amending any entries.

Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Albraithen
Assistant Director General for the Office of the United Nations in the Near East

The Glossary comprises complex English scientific and technical terms and idioms whose precise meanings cannot easily be identified in the agricultural fields. Arabic terms were therefore presented to express the meaning of these concepts and idioms as far as possible. In cases where no Arabic equivalent or definition exists, the term or the idiom has been carefully translated by consultants.

Finally, the Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region expresses its appreciation and deep gratitude to everyone contributing to produce the glossary in this form.

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