Locust Warning Organization (LWO)

Objectives:

  1. To monitor, forewarn and control locust in Scheduled Desert Area (SDA) being International obligation and commitment.
  1. To conduct research on locust and grasshoppers.
  1. Liaison and coordination with National and International Organizations.
  1. Human resource development through training and demonstration for staff of Locust Warning Organization (LWO), State officials, BSF personnel and Farmers.
  2. To maintain control potential to combat locust emergency by organizing locust control campaign.

However, the main objective of Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) is protection of standing crops and other green vegetation from the ravages of Desert locust which is one of the most dangerous pests occurring in desert areas throughout the world.

Functions:

  1. Keep constant vigil through field survey to prevent crop losses due to locust attack in approximately 2 lakh sq. kms. Scheduled Desert Area in the States of Rajasthan and Gujarat
  2. Avoid upsurge of locust population in SDA and entry of locust swarms into India through prompt control operations.
  3. Hold Indo-Pak Border meetings for exchange of locust situation information between two Countries to effectively monitor the situation and ensure preparedness to tackle the emerging locust threat, if any.
  4. Train the Farmers, State functionaries and locust staff on latest locust control technologies.
  5. Advise state functionaries, BSF personnel, Panchayat Raj Institutions to inform the nearest LWO office if any locust activity was reported in their areas for needful action.
  6. Issuance of Desert Locust Situation Bulletin at fortnightly intervals to inform all concerned stakeholders about emerging locust situation in India.
  7. Conduct research at Field Station on Investigation on Locusts(FSIL) at Bikaner on bio-efficacy of pesticides and bio-pesticides for locust control.

Locusts are the short-horned grasshoppers with highly migratory habit, marked polymorphism and voracious feeding behavior. They are capable of forming swarms (adult’s congregation) and hopper bands (nymphal congregation). They cause great devastation to natural and cultivated vegetation. They are indeed the sleeping giants that can flare up any time to inflict heavy damage to the crops leading to national emergency of food and fodder.

There are 10 important species of locusts in the world listed below.

S. No. / English Name / Scientific Name
1. / The Desert Locust / Schistocerca gregaria
2. / The Bombay Locust / Nomadacris succincta
3. / The Migratory Locust / Locusts migratoria manilensis;
Locusta migratoria migratoria-oides
4. / The Italian Locust / Calliptamus italicus
5. / The Moroccan Locust / Dociostaurus morocannus
6. / The Red Locust / Nomadacris septemfaciata
7. / The Brown Locust / Locustana pardalina
8. / The South American Locust / Schistocerca paranensis
9. / The Australian Locust / Chortoicetes termenifera
10. / The Tree Locust / Anacridium Spp.

Only four species viz. Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), Migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), Bombay Locust ( Nomadacris succincta) and Tree locust (Anacridium sp.) are found in India. The desert locust is most important pest species in India as well as in intercontinental context

Distribution:

The invasion area of desert locust covers about 30 million sq km which includes whole or parts of nearly 64 countries. This includes countries like North West and East African countries, Arabian Peninsula, the eartwhile southern USSR, Iran, Afghanistan, the Indian sub-continent.

During recession periods when locust occurs in low densities, it inhabits a broad belt of arid and semi-arid land which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to North West India. Thus, it covers over 16 millions sq kms in 30 countries.

History of locust invasion in India:

Historically, the Desert Locust has always been a major threat to man’s well-being. The Desert Locust is mentioned as curse to mankind in ancient writings viz. Old Testament-Bible and the Holy Koran. The magnitude of the damage and loss caused by the locusts is very gigantic beyond imagination as they have caused the starvation due to its being polyphagous feeder, and on an average small locust swarm eats as much food in one day as about 10 elephants, 25 camels or 2500 people. Locust do cause damage by devouring the leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, bark and growing points and also by breaking down trees because of their weight when they settle down in masses.

Locust plagues and upsurges:

The attack of the desert locust used to occur earlier in a phases of plague cycles (a period of more than two consecutive years of wide-spread breeding, swarm production and thereby damaging of crops is called a plague period) followed by a period of 1-8 years of very little locust activity called as the recession period again to be followed by another spell of plague. India witnessed several locust plague and locust upsurges and incursions during last two centuries as indicated below:

Locusts plague cycles and upsurges in India

Years / Plagues / Years
1812-1821 / 1900-1907
1843-1844 / 1912-1920
1863-1867 / 1926-1931
1869-1873 / 1940-1946
1876-1881 / 1949-1955
1889-1891 / 1959-1962

Upsurges

Year / No. of swarms incursion
1964 / 004
1968 / 167
1970 / 002
1973 / 006
1974 / 006
1975 / 019
1976 / 002
1978 / 020
1983 / 026
1986 / 003
1989 / 015
1993 / 172
1997 / 004

Small scale localized locust breeding have also been reported and controlled during the period 1998, 2002, 2005 , 2007 and 2010. Since 2010 till 2012-13, situation remained calm and no large scale breeding and swarms have been reported. However, solitary phase of Desert locust has been reported from time to time at some locations in the State of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Economic Importance:

In our country, in spite of taking control measures, damage to crops caused by locusts during 1926-31 cycles, on a conservative estimate, was about Rupees 10 crore. During 1940-46 and 1949-55 locusts cycles the damage was estimated at Rs. 2.00 crore each and it was only Rs. 50.00 lakh during the last locust cycle (1959-62). Although no locust plague cycles have been observed after 1962, however, during 1978 and 1993, large scale upsurges were reported. Damage estimated was Rs. 2.00 lakh in 1978 and Rs. 7.18 lakh in 1993.

Thereafter, insignificant damage by locust upsurges were reported largely due to the efforts of National, Regional and International Organizations established to prevent plague under the overall coordination of the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Scheduled Desert Area of India:

In India the Scheduled Desert Area (SDA) is spread over an area of 2.05 sq km in the state of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana as per the details given below:

State / District / Tehsil, Taluka Area / No. of Villages / Area in sq km
Rajasthan / Alwar / Bansure, Behror / 318 / 1380.30
Barmer / Barmer, Chohtan, Pachpadra, Sheo, Ramsar, Siwana / 1636 / 27,755.64
Bikaner / Bikaner, Lunkaransar, Nokha, Sri, Kolayatji / 673 / 22,611.13
Churu / Churu, Rajgarh, Ratangarh, Sardarshahar, Sri Dungargarh, Taranagar, Sujangarh / 940 / 16,806.12
Jaisalmer / Jaisalmer, Pokaran / 562 / 43,583.94
Jalore / Ahore, Bhinmal, Jalore, Sanchore / 612 / 12,208.56
Jhunjhunu / Chirawa, Jhunjhunu, Khetri, Udaipur, Shekhawati / 692 / 5,879.82
Jodhpur / Jodhpur, Osian, Phalodi, Shergarh / 624 / 17,660.10
Nagaur / Nagaur, Jayal, Didwana, Ladnun, Nawa / 878 / 11,132.70
Sikar / Sikar, Lachhmangarh, Neem ka Thana, Fatehgarh, Sawai Madhopur / 1506 / 7,765.80
Sriganganagar / Sriganganagar, Anupgarh, Bhadra, Nohar, Suratgarh / 2308 / 12,466.56
Total Rajasthan / 1,79,250.67
Gujarat / Amreli / Dwarka Taluka / 42 / 711.17
Banaskantha / Deesa, Deodar, Dhanera, Palanpur (West of main Ahmedabad-Rly Line), Radhanpur, Tharad (Vav, Santalpur, Sihori, Talukas) / 1086 / 9,843.09
Bhuj / Abdasa, Khadif, Khauvda, Lakhpat, Nakhtrana, Western-Half), Rapar / 655 / 7,013.47
Halar (Jamnagar) / Drol & Parts of Jdia, Kalyanpur, Khambalia, Jamnagar, Lalpura, Talukas lying along the gulf of Rann of Kutch. / 221 / 2,374.50
Total of Gujarat / 23,077.58
Haryana / Mohindergarh / Mohindergarh, Narnaul / 378 / 3,457.20
Total Haryana / 3,457.20
Grand Total / 2,05,785.45

Map of Scheduled desert Area

  • Locust Research (FSIL)

Mandate of Field Station for Investigations on Locust (FSIL):

  • To conduct research study on various aspects of biology, ecology and behavior of Locusts and Grasshoppers.
  • To study and evaluate the different chemical and biological pesticides against Locusts and Grasshoppers in Laboratory and field conditions.
  • To evaluate and evolve new techniques for the control and monitoring of Locusts and grasshoppers.

Locust Biology

  • Life cycle: Locust life cycle has three distinct stages (i) Egg, (ii) Hopper and (iii) Adult.
  • Egg: Eggs are laid in pods in moist sandy soil at a depth of about 10 cms at an interval of 7 – 10 days. Gregarious female usually lay 2-3 egg pods having 60-80 eggs in average. Solitarious female mostly lay 3-4 times having 150-200 eggs in average. The rate of development of eggs depends on soil moisture and temperature. No development takes place below 15°C. The incubation period is 10-12 days when the optimum temperature is between 32-35°C.
  • Hopper: After incubation is complete, the eggs hatch and nymphs (young ones) emerge. There are 5 instars in gregarious and 5-6 instars in solitarious population. In each instar there is a growth and change in characteristic coloration.

Ist Instar / Newly hatched are white but turns black in 1-2 hours.
IInd Instar / Head is larger and pale colour pattern is conspicuous.
IIIrd Instar / Two pairs of wing buds projects on each side of thorax
IVth Instar / Colour is conspicuously black and yellow.
Vth Instar / Colour is bright yellow with black pattern.
  • The rate of development in hopper depends on temperature. It takes 22 days when the mean air temperature is hot say about 37°C and may be delayed up to 70 days when the mean temperature is below 22°C.
  • Adult: The Vth Instar nymph moults into adult stage. This change is called 'fledging' and the young adult is called 'fledgling' or 'immature adult' means they are sexually immature. The period of sexual maturity varies. In suitable condition the adult may mature in 3 weeks and under cool and dry condition it may take 8 months time. During this stage, the adults fly for search of favorable breeding condition and may cover thousands of kilometers.
  • Young immature adults are pink in color but old ones become dark red or brown in cold condition. On maturation the adults become bright yellow. Males mature before females. Oviposition commences within two days of copulation.
  • Locust Phases
  • Locust is generally found in two phases (i) Solitary, when it is so called inactive and individual locust live scattered and (ii) Gregarious, when it is very active, the individuals tend to remain together, breed rapidly and form swarms which leave the breeding grounds and invade far distant tracts and even cross many countries. In addition to difference in behavior, the two phases can generally be distinguished by colour and some anatomical and morphological features. The two phases run into each other, as there are some individuals which are intermediate in habits and physique and are therefore considered to be in transient phase. A few differences between solitary and gregarious phase are as under:

Characteristics / Solitary phase / Gregarious phase
Behavior / -Do not form groups or swarms
-Roost, bask, feed and move as individuals
-Hoppers move short distance, adults fly as individuals at night / -Form persistent and cohesive groups, bands and swarm
-Roost, bask, feed and move together
-Very mobile, fly as swarms by day. Hoppers move in band.
Colour / -Hoppers uniformly green in early instars but may be brown in last two instars.
-Adult pale grayish brown, buffer peach coloured. Males change to pale yellow on sexual maturation.
-Female show no colour change on maturation at low density. / -Hoppers have black pattern on yellow or orange background
-Adults rosy pink on fledging, darkens with age to grayish or brownish red then to yellow on sexual maturation. Males are brighter.
Morphometrics / F/C Male 3.75 and above
Female 3.85 and above
E/F Male 2.025 or below
Female 2.075 or below / F/C Male 3.15 or below
Female same as above
E/F Male 2.225 and above
Female 2.272 and above
Note: C = Width of head, E = Length of forewing, F = Length of hind femur, measuring Unit in milimetre
  • Breeding Season:
  • In all, there are three breeding seasons for locusts (i) Winter breeding [November to December], (ii) Spring breeding [January to June] and (iii) Summer breeding [July to October]
  • India has only one locust breeding season and that is Summer breeding. The neighboring country Pakistan has both spring and summer breeding.

Locust Warning Organisation

In India, the scheme Locust Control and Research (LC&R) is responsible for control of Desert Locust and is being implemented through Organisation known as “Locust Warning Organisation (LWO)” established in 1939 and later amalgamated with the Directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine and Storage in 1946. Locust Warning organization (LWO) is responsible to monitor and control the locust situation in Scheduled Desert Area (SDA) mainly in the States of Rajasthan and Gujarat while partly in the States of Punjab and Haryana. by way of intensive survey , surveillance, monitoring and control operations where required.

  • Mandate: Locust Warning Organisation is aimed to detect the local breeding in Scheduled Desert Areas and incursion of exotic locust swarms into India. LWO keeps itself abreast with the prevailing locust situation at National and International level through monthly Desert Locust Bulletins of FAO issued by the Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS), AGP Division Rome, Italy. Survey data are collected by the field functionaries from the fields which are transmitted to LWO circle offices, field HQ Jodhpur and Central HQ Faridabad where these are compiled and analyzed to forewarn the probability of locust outbreak and upsurges. The locust situation is appraised to the State Governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat with the advice to gear up their field functionaries to keep a constant vigil on locust situation in their areas and intimate the same to nearest LWO offices for taking necessary action at their end.
  • Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage is responsible for adoption of suitable control strategy in Scheduled Desert Area only. However, the liability of locust control in cropped areas lies with the State Government. Lot of innovations have been made in the field of locust survey and surveillance for quick transmission of locust survey data, their analysis, decision making, mapping of survey areas through computerization, adoption of new software like eLocust2 and RAMSES.
  • Restructuring of LWO: During X five year plan, LWO has been restructured into one Central Hqr. at Faridabad (Haryana), one Field Hqr.at Jodhpur and 10 Locust Circle Offices (LCOs) at Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jalore, Phalodi, Nagaur, Suratgarh &Churu (Rajasthan) and Palanpur& Bhuj ( Gujarat) by merging five Circle offices and 23 Locust Outposts. Besides, there is one Field Station for Investigations on Locusts (FSIL) situated at Bikaner. LWO maintains its own wireless network for exchanging information on locust survey and control between Field Hqr. Jodhpur, Locust Circle offices and Central Hqr. Faridabad. Wireless communication between Jodhpur (India) and Karachi (Pakistan) is also maintained every year during June to Nov. for exchange of locust information between the two countries. Satisfactory locust control potential is being maintained in the form of pesticides, Plant Protection (PP) equipments, wireless sets and trained staff.
  • Locust Warning Organization/ Locust Circle Offices

Desert Locust Situation for the last five years:

- No major activities of Desert locust were reported during 2008, 2009 and 2011; however adults of solitary phase have been reported at isolated places in District Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur in Rajasthan.

- Similarly, no major activities of Desert Locust were reported during monsoon season in 2010. However an upsurge of desert locust population was reported from 4th October to 8th November 2010 which was confined to some areas of District Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) .Total infested area of about 4700 hectares was treated with 4700 liters of 96% Malathion ULV. This prompt control operation was quite successful and locust swarms were prevented from entering into cultivated areas and as such no crop damage occurred.

- During current year 2012-13, so far no major developments of Desert locust were observed, however solitary phase Desert locusts have been reported during survey only at a few places.

- Physical and financial targets and achievements during the 11th plan period have been depicted in Annexure I & II while administrative structure of the Scheme and location of locust control offices (LCO) is given in Annexure-III & IV

Locust Management :

Advance Planning:

1.State Governments of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab are kept informed about the probable locust threat well in time. They are advised to keep their field functionaries in readiness to cope up with the situation

2.Training programme for State functionaries, BSF and LWO Staff is organized.

3.A contingency plan is prepared.

4.Meeting of officers and officials are held for planning the survey and control strategy

5.Permission for holding meetings between the locust officers of India and Pakistan is obtained from Ministry of External Affairs.

6.Procurement of pesticides to maintain buffer stock.

7.Conducting Cholinesterase test for the staff engaged in locust control work to see any adverse effects of pesticides.

8.Locust Unit at Directorate’s Headquarters Faridabad/ Locust Warning Organisation monitor the global ecological conditions and locust situation along the Red Sea coast and winter/ summer breeding areas of Southwest Asia region (Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan) which can cause possible threat to India. National Locust situation is also monitored and reviewed periodically.

9.Provision of locust emergency fund as per the situation.

10. Provision of standby aircrafts/ helicopter for control operation if the situation so warrants.

- During the year 2012, no major activities of Desert locust were observed, however insignificant population of solitary phase have been reported in recent border survey only at a few places. As per FAO Desert Locust Bulletin, low numbers of solitary adults were present in the summer breeding areas in Cholistan, Pakistan adjacent to Indian Border. In view of the steps taken in advance by LWO, the locust population remained below threatening level.

Preparation of Survey Schedule and Contingency plan:

  1. An annual meeting of officers and officials of Locust Warning Organization (LWO) is held wherein the locust survey schedule and contingency plan is discussed and finalized to combat the impending locust threat by undertaking the survey and surveillance work in Schedule Desert Area of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

2.Necessary steps are taken to fill up the vacant posts of different categories.