Locust summit seeks action plan

Swarms of locusts have become an annual problem in Asia

By Central Asia correspondent Catherine Davies

Representatives from Russia and four central Asian states are meeting in the Kazakh city of Al-Amati to discuss how they can best tackle the annual invasion of locusts.

For years now countries across the region have faced the onslaught of destructive locust swarms.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which has organised the two-day meeting, says one of the issues to be raised is how the state could adopt a more co-ordinated approach.

Swarms can lay waste to huge areas of crops

A single swarm of locusts can be huge - one reported recently in Russia was estimated to measure 10km long by 2km wide.

Last year locusts smothered buildings in the Kazakh capital, clogged up car radiators and even flew out of briefcases and jackets.

Around seven million hectares of land were said to have been invaded.

This year, officials report, the situation seems to be better.

The UNDP says $10m has been spent on pesticides in Kazakhstan alone and the state has treated three times more land than before.

Breeding ground

The locust problem has been getting worse since the end of the Soviet Union.

Farmers often can't afford to buy the necessary pesticides and these untended or abandoned fields provide a good breeding ground for locusts.

But experts say it's not just a case of bigger funds.

They believe better organisation is needed too and part of the problem is that swarms ignore national boundaries.

This year Kazakh officials blamed Russia for locusts they said came from there.

Last year it was Russia who protested to Kazakhstan - China has also been watching the situation with concern.

It fears that if Central Asia fails to contain the pests, swarms of locusts might head in its direction too.

Now one expert has suggested a regional locust centre be set up which would enable a much more co-ordinated approach to this recurrent problem.