Attachments
General Situation during May 2011
Forecast until mid-July 2011
Significant Desert Locust infestations continued to be present in May on the Red Sea coast in Saudi Arabia where substantial ground and aerial control operations were conducted. Control operations declined in Mauritania and Egypt but were undertaken in the spring breeding areas in Iran and Pakistan. Smaller operations were carried out in Western Sahara and Algeria. During the forecast period, adults that are not controlled in Saudi Arabia are likely to form small groups or swarms that could move to the summer breeding areas in the interior of Sudan and Yemen and lay eggs. This poses a very significant threat to Yemen where survey and control operations are not currently possible. Therefore all efforts are required to contain the current infestations along the Red Sea coast. Higher than normal numbers of locusts will move from the spring breeding areas in northwest Africa to the northern Sahel in West Africa, and from southeast Iran and western Pakistan to the Indo-Pakistan border. Small-scale breeding will commence in these areas with the onset of the summer rains.
Western Region. Ground control operations declined in northwest Mauritania (4,600 ha) during May where small groups of hoppers and adults persisted in three areas. The situation remained calm in adjacent areas of the southern part of Western Sahara but groups of immature adults appeared further north and laid eggs. Ground teams treated some 500 ha. Scattered adults persisted in some places along the southern side of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Small hopper bands and groups of hoppers and adults formed near irrigated areas in the central Sahara of Algeria where ground teams treated nearly 300 ha. During the forecast period, an increasing number of adults will appear in the summer breeding areas in the northern Sahel, primarily in Mauritania and, to a lesser extent, in northern Mali and Niger. Initial adult numbers will be slightly higher than normal this year due to extended breeding in northwest Mauritania. Small-scale breeding will occur with the onset of the seasonal rains.
Central Region. Ground and aerial control operations increased during May along the Red Sea coast in Saudi Arabia, treating nearly 25,000 ha of hopper bands and hopper and adult groups that formed from recent breeding. Adults that are not controlled are likely to form small groups or swarms that could move to the summer breeding areas in the interior of Sudan and Yemen and lay eggs. Consequently, locust numbers are expected to increase in both countries during the forecast period. As it is not possible to carry out survey and control operations at present in Yemen, the current situation poses a significant threat if rains fall in the summer breeding areas of the interior. Therefore, all efforts are required to contain the current infestations in Saudi Arabia. The locust situation improved along the Red Sea coast in Egypt due to drying vegetation and control operations (65 ha).
Eastern Region. Breeding occurred during May in southeast Iran and western Pakistan, causing locusts to increase and form small groups in both countries. Ground teams treated 6,700 ha in Iran and nearly 6,000 ha in Pakistan. Any adults that are not detected or controlled could form small groups that will move to the summer breeding areas along the Indo-Pakistan border in June and lay eggs on a small scale once the monsoon rains commence.