Locust Invasion in Yunnan Province! The Agricultural Drone Corps are Deployed

On July 9, the Forestry and Grassland Administration of Pu'er City, Yunnan Province disclosed that swarms of yellow-spined bamboo locusts invaded from the China-Laos border, and decimated nearly 6,667 hectares of fields. By July 8, yellow-spined bamboo locusts had been spotted in a total of 6591.5 hectares of land in Pu'er City, including 5368.4 hectares of forest land and 1,223.1 hectares of agricultural land. The disaster is escalating and might spread to surrounding counties.

 

 

Since the beginning of this year,

Locust outbreaks have struck some countries

in Southwest Asia,

posing great threats

to local agricultural production and food security

 

Source: Forestry and Grassland Administration of Pu'er City

 

Due to weak pest control technological capabilities in Laos, the invasion of the yellow-spined bamboo locusts into China is accelerating and might spread into surrounding counties. The locust swarms mainly wreak havoc on bamboo, Chinese bananas, Thysanolaena latifolia, and many other plants.

 

DJI drone operators guard China against locust invasions

 

By now, a total of 2,294.4 hectares of land have been covered by the pest control operation. DJI T20 drones have completed 502 flights, and each drone is expected to spray anti-locust pesticides for 67 hectares of land each day.

 

 

Yunnan Senye Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. deployed 15 DJI T-series drones and 20 drone operators to carry out anti-locust operations in mountainous areas with an average drop of 200 meters. One drone operator said, "The effect can be seen in just 30 minutes, as the yellow-spined bamboo locusts get poisoned and fall down.”

 

During the week that they participated in the locust control operation, the DJI drone operators worked from dawn until dusk every day. When the local forestry pest control and quarantine bureaus identified the swarms of locusts, they would rush to the site immediately to contain the locusts.

 

"The officials of our local government witnessed the effects and found that it was very effective to control the locusts with drones. Now, we control the locusts with the drones as the main tool, and manual pesticide spraying as auxiliary means."

 

 

 

 

It was reported that 2,000 hectares of land has been covered by the drone aerial application by now. As the pest population density has decreased greatly, the control effect is excellent. By giving full play to the mobility, high efficiency, and precise operation of DJI agricultural drones, we actively carry out locust control operations with drones in order to minimize the loss of grain crops, ensure the safety of forest resources, and protect the yield and income of farmers.

 

 

 

Background

Ceracris kiangsu belongs to the Ceracris genus of the Acrididae family, and is commonly known as yellow-spined bamboo locust or locust. It mainly devours moso bamboo, phyllostachys sulphurea, and fishscale bamboo. During outbreaks, yellow-spined bamboo locusts can eat up so many bamboo leaves that it looks like its suffered a fire. The bamboo will wither during the year, and very few bamboo shoots will grow the next year, so the bamboo grove will deteriorate. Due to the water accumulated in the bamboo cavity, the fiber will be rotten, and the bamboo will be of no value or use. Yellow-spined bamboo locusts are major pests in bamboo-producing areas of China, and often decimate a large area of bamboo .

 

 

The Forestry and Grassland Administration of Pu'er City disclosed that the current locust disaster features the following trends: First, the invasion of the yellow-spined bamboo locusts from abroad persists and new invading swarms can be detected every day. Second, the locusts are spreading faste , and the swarms may move to surrounding counties. Third, the invading swarms are going to devour agricultural fields, posing a potential disastrous risk to crops. Based on initial research and judgment, there will very likely be a disaster of yellow-spined bamboo locusts in border regions from July to September. The monitoring, prevention, and control of locusts must be enhanced.

 

Source: Forestry and Grassland Administration of Pu'er City