The year 2024 has been again particularly rich in achievements. While locust infestations were on the rise in several countries in Caucasus and Central Asia, the efforts and action of the national bodies in charge of locust management resulted in successful campaign implementation. The FAO Locust Programme in CCA, supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the United States Agency for International Cooperation (USAID), provided assistance in this regard, with a particularly high number of activities in 2024, several of them being carried out for the first time ever. A record number of cross-border surveys, involving all Central Asian countries, were held during the campaign. Regional exchanges also took place on several other occasions, including the annual Technical Workshop on Locusts in CCA, held for the first time in Turkmenistan. National capacities were strengthened with particular attention to training, joint activities and knowledge transfer on locust-related topics, benefiting to 580 persons in total, and through equipment delivery. Support was provided with respect to the Geographic Information System (GIS) entitled “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System (CCALM)”, a key management tool for early warning and timely response. Preparedness was supported also with the development of a national locust contingency plan in Tajikistan, a pilot activity in the region. Following the two regional demonstrations held in 2023, six out of the ten CCA countries conducted national demonstrations/trials with biopesticides during the 2024 locust campaign, with very good results obtained. They represent an initial but highly promising step towards safer locust control. In this respect, Human health and Environmental Monitoring Teams were set up in two additional countries, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, for a total of six countries. Such regional and national efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and towards early warning and pesticide risk reduction will be pursued in the coming years. The above is  would not be possible without the outstanding support of the resource partners. The FAO Team working on locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia wishes to congratulate all stakeholders for the achievements made in 2024 and present its best wishes for a successful 2025!

The report of the annual Technical Workshop on Locusts in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA), held on 11-15 November 2024 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, is available here! It includes a summary of the 2024 locust campaign in the ten CCA countries and a forecast for 2025. The report also contains a review of the progress made and activities in 2024, with a summary of the discussions held by the CCA countries, resource partners, observers from China, Iran and Italy, and FAO experts, including on the latest developments regarding the GIS “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System” (CCALM) or related to pesticide risk reduction associated with locust control operations, including biopesticides. On this basis, the next annual workplan, covering the 2025 campaign, is also provided and will guide the implementation of the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in CCA”. An updated list of publications relevant to locust management in CCA and produced under the Programme is provided in annex.

The annual Technical Workshop on Locusts in CCA is hosted in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, for the first time since Programme start. It gathers delegates from the countries participating in the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)” as well as observers from China, Iran and Italy, in addition to the FAO organizers. The Workshop allows discussing the lessons learnt from the 2024 national anti-locust campaign and preparation of the next one, the implementation of the Programme in 2024 and workplan for 2025, the latest developments regarding the Geographic Information System (GIS) entitled “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System” (CCALM), the use of biopesticides for locust control; the use of drones and new technologies in locust management, risk reduction associated with locust control operations, and future priorities for the Programme. This event is possible thanks to the financial support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the FAO Regular Programme.

The next Technical Workshop on Locusts in CCA will be hosted in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in November 2024, for the first time since Programme start. It will gather the countries participating in the FAO “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA)” as well as observers, in addition to the FAO organizers. The Workshop will allow discussing the lessons learnt from the 2024 national anti-locust campaign and preparation of the next one, the implementation of the Programme in 2024 and workplan for 2025, the latest developments regarding the Geographic Information System (GIS) entitled “Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System” (CCALM), the use of biopesticides for locust control; the use of drones and new technologies in locust management, risk reduction associated with locust control operations, and future priorities for the Programme. This event is possible thanks to the financial support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

With the objective to support regional cooperation in Central Asia and promote exchange of experience, a country-to-country visit was organized for three Kyrgyz experts in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 25 27 September 2024. The Kyrgyz experts, from the Department of Chemicalization, Plant Protection and Quarantine (DCPPQ), Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry, visited the Agency on Plant Protection and Quarantine (APPQ), Ministry of Agriculture, Uzbekistan. The visit started with a meeting with the management of APPQ and of the Scientific Research Institute for Plant Protection and Quarantine of APPQ. During the two first days, the experts visited the facilities of the Institute and were informed on its history, achievements, ongoing work and future plans. Presentations and demonstrations addressed bio-ecology and spread areas of locusts and grasshoppers in Uzbekistan, natural enemies, sampling and storing for further studies. The visit to other units of the Institute was also organized, such as the research lab on the pests of pastures, fodder and oil seed crops, as well as medicinal plants, and the bio-factory, where various entomophagous insects are reared. One day was spent in the field allowing to demonstrate and discuss locust survey methods, data collection and sampling, including using ASDC and CCALM, as well as the national locust GIS; and show spraying equipment and insecticides used against locusts by APPQ.

On 5 September, during the International Forum on Landlocked Developing Countries’ Food Security and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) organized by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan in Tashkent, a side-event was held on “Sustainable locust management in Caucasus and Central Asia: innovations and the way forward”. This hybrid side-event (in-person and online) provided the opportunity to present experiences, especially good practices for locust management, in particular in the CCA region, to promote locust preventive control strategy - which includes innovative geospatial tools for monitoring and early warning systems, as well as effective and sustainable control techniques, and to advocate for sustained funding and regional cooperation for locust management in CCA. Interventions were made on experience and future prospectives for locust management in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, in addition to a FAO presentation on “Locusts in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA): the threat and way towards sustainable management”. A presentation was also delivered by an Uzbek expert on the threat raised by the Saxaul Humpback grasshoppers in Uzbekistan as well as neighbouring countries Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

An overall area of 1600 ha was treated with the biopesticide Metarhizium acridum in May/July 2024 in Uzbekistan, including in the Republic of Karakalpakstan (800 ha), Bukhara (300 ha), Navoi (300 ha) and Khorezm (200 ha) regions. Treatments occurred mostly in ecologically sensitive areas, including in the Aral Sea region and on Saxaul plantations, against 2-3rd instars of Italian locust (Calliptamus italicus) –200 ha– and 3rd instars of Large and Small Saxaul Humpback grasshoppers (Dericorys albidula and Dericorys annulata) –1400 ha. Based on the preliminary results, the field efficiency reached 89% against the Italian locust and 93-98% against the Saxaul Humpback grasshoppers, 10 to17 days after the treatment. In cages, mortality was of 100% after 8-12 days. It should be noted that in 2023, regional demonstration of biopesticides against the Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus) and Italian locust were held in Jizzakh, Uzbekistan, and Kakheti, Georgia, which showed high efficiency and promising results. On this basis, several Caucasus and Central Asian countries expressed interest in conducting national trials and demonstrations in 2024. FAO delivered to that end biopesticides Metarhizium acridum to Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (10kg each for demonstration purpose) as well as to Uzbekistan (80 kg for operational use).  This was done in the framework of the FAO Programme to improve national and regional locust management in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA), with the support of the regional FAO Project “Improvement of Locust Management (Phase 2)" funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

On 16-18 July 2024, a National Contingency Plan Workshop was organized in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, acting as a pilot country for this activity in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA). The scope of the workshop was to develop such plan as a methodological and practical tool for managing locust-related risks at the national level. More specifically, the plan should help managing locusts with two main objectives: prevent emergencies/crises; and in case they occur, be able to respond timely and adequately to such crises. It is based on the core principle that various locust situations, corresponding to various scenarios, require different responses, which need to be identified in advance in order to be timely and adequately implemented. In this respect, the document includes a Locust prevention contingency plan and a Locust emergency contingency plan. Participants in the workshop were the national and international entities involved in locust management in Tajikistan. i.e. primarily the management and senior staff of the State Entity “Locust Control Expedition” (SE-LCE), together with representatives from the line Ministry of Agriculture, as well as of other national and international entities which play or may be called to play a role in supporting locust management, especially during locust emergencies. The next step includes the finalization of the plan in view of its further approval and implementation. The Workshop was organized as part of the FAO Locust Programme in CCA, with the support of the regional project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

On 2-5 June 2024, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the Shandong Province of China convened an International Conference on “New Technology and Concept for Sustainable Management of Locusts and Grasshoppers”, which attracted about 100 participants. Upon the invitation from the Organizing Committee, the FAO Senior Locust Management Expert delivered a keynote presentation entitled “FAO Locust Programme in Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA): challenges and way forward”, sparking great interest among the audience. Locust managers and researchers from Xinjiang, a northwestern Chinese province bordering Kazakhstan where the Italian locust is prevalent, were particularly interested in the Automated System of Data Collection (ASDC) and the Caucasus and Central Asia Locust Management System (CCALM). During the conference, the attendees also learned from the Chinese speakers about ecological transformations of wetlands inhabited by Oriental Migratory locust into wheat growing areas and shrimp producing ponds as well as about Chinese experience in locust biological control. The Academy is one of the leading agricultural research organizations in China dealing with locust management.

Treatments with the biopesticide Metarhizium acridum were carried out in Kyrgyzstan against the Italian Locust, for the first time ever in the country, during the national demonstration conducted by FAO in late May/June 2024. Trials were carried out on 22-24 May in Panfilov district, Chui region, against first instar hoppers over 20 hectares (two plots of 10 hectares each). Theoretical presentations and on-the-job training were also delivered at this occasion to the benefit of 15 staff from the Department of Chemicalization, Plant Protection and Quarantine (DCPPQ), Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry (MWRAPI), mainly as well as from the National Academy of Sciences. A representative from the Kazakh Research Institute of Plant Protection and Quarantine also joined the event. This field demonstration was followed by a round table held on 5 June to review the achieved results, lessons learnt and recommendations as well as peculiarities of biopesticides use in locust control. It was organized by FAO in Bishkek and  gathered 20 persons representing the MWRAPI and other national stakeholders, including the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision, the Ministry of Health, the National Academy of Sciences and the Kyrgyz National Agricultural University, as well as representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in addition to FAO experts. The results of the treatments with biopesticides were excellent: nearly 100 % mortality was recorded after 11 days in cages. The event was possible thanks to the support of the regional JICA-funded project implemented as part of the FAO Locust Programme in Caucasus and Central Asia. Overall, in the framework of the Programme, support has been provided to promote the use of biopesticides in seven countries during the 2024 campaign.