[Regnum] The locusts that arrived from the part of Zaporizhia region controlled by Kiev will not harm the agriculture of liberated Zaporizhia, since the entire harvest has been collected. This was reported on July 24 by the head of the regional branch of the Russian Agricultural Center, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences Irina Bandura.
Experts from the Russian Agricultural Center have recorded the migration of Asian locusts in the Vasilievsky district of the Zaporizhia region. This voracious insect moves in waves to corn fields, but mainly concentrates in the floodplains along the Dnieper coastline.
"The pest has already destroyed about 600 hectares of corn crops, but has not yet entered below Mykhailivka. Since the grain crops have already been mostly harvested, the locusts will not cause serious damage to this year's harvest," the expert said in an interview with the Zaporizhzhya News Agency.
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According to the doctor of sciences, farmers who have vegetative plants, such as perennial grasses, sunflowers or gardens, can use preparations approved for the control of locust larvae as a preventive measure. Bandura also noted that insecticides are ineffective against adult insects. Therefore, it is important to accurately determine the places where locust eggs are laid (egg pods), so that next year, at the initial stage of the emergence of larvae, these areas can be treated with biological and chemical insecticides.
"Our employees go to the location, find out the population and give recommendations to the farm on treatment methods. To localize the spread of locusts on federal lands, Rosselkhoztsentr has stocks of the drug "Imidor", - added Bandura.
The migration of locusts can only be prevented through joint efforts, the Russian Agricultural Center reported.
Earlier, Regnum news agency reported that a locust invasion was recorded in the south of Ukraine in the Kherson, Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa and Vinnytsia regions. According to experts, the density of locusts this year is 40-50 individuals per square meter. But there are places where there are twice as many. Such indicators are significantly higher than the maximum permissible threshold for locust reproduction.
In 2025, due to an abnormally warm winter, a locust invasion was expected in Russia, which could threaten the harvest in 21 regions. It was planned to create special groups to combat the insects.
Experts identified regions with increased risk - among them were the Astrakhan, Volgograd, Orenburg regions, as well as the republics of Kalmykia, Dagestan, Bashkiria and others. Locusts eat almost all vegetation in their path.
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Who is at risk. Locust invasion in Ukraine
Locusts are already destroying crops in Naddnipryanshchyna, the Black Sea region and Zaporozhye. At the same time, the pests are quickly flying over and capturing new Ukrainian regions.
The locust invasion has been officially registered in the Zaporizhia, Kherson, Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk regions, but other regions of Ukraine may also be under threat. These insects reproduce rapidly and can fly up to 100 km per day, and if the flock flies with the wind, then even more.
Both farmers and ordinary citizens are concerned about the harvest, because one swarm of up to 80 million individuals is capable of eating as much as 35 thousand people eat in a day.
WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR THE INVASION?
As noted by the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, high temperatures and dry weather this year have caused mass reproduction and an increase in the number of this dangerous pest.
In addition, the best environment for its reproduction are floodplain meadows and deltas of large rivers.
Also, reservoirs of locusts are non-orchard lands, fallow lands and roadsides with wormwood and knotweed, mixed grasses, areas with sparse vegetation along irrigation canals, clearings and edges of forest plantations, fields where agricultural activities have not been carried out.
Thus, ideal conditions have been created in the South of Ukraine, since the destruction of the Kakhovka Reservoir, in the place of which bushes have grown, and a significant part of the land, the cultivation of which has stopped due to military actions.
Officially, the locust invasion has been recorded in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, in particular in the territory of Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, Kharkiv and other regions. In these regions, a special plant protection regime has been introduced to localize and destroy the pest.
The first outbreaks were found in Zaporizhia and Kherson region, and literally a few days later, reports of the pest being detected in Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa and Kharkiv regions began to arrive. Individual specimens have also already been found in Vinnytsia.
This year, Ukraine was attacked by two types of locusts at once: outbreaks of Egyptian locusts were found in the Zaporizhia region, and Italian locusts in the Kherson region.
HOW MANY DAYS TO LVIV?
If favorable conditions persist, the scale of the invasion may increase. In a few days, the insects may reach different parts of Ukraine, in particular Kiev, Kirovograd, Cherkasy, Poltava, Donetsk regions, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Head of Department at the Dnepropetrovsk Agrarian and Economic University Roman Novitsky told Telegraf .
Western regions and neighboring countries, in particular Moldova, Romania, Poland, are also at risk with a tailwind. Locusts are able to feed on almost any vegetation, but most of all they prefer cereals: corn, wheat, millet, sorghum, as well as wild grasses such as reed and couch grass.
HOW TO DEAL WITH PESTS
The economic impact of locusts is catastrophic. The last major outbreak in West Africa cost more than $450 million to eradicate and caused $2.5 billion in crop losses. The cost of the response has increased 100-fold, from $1 million to $100 million in just 14 months.
The State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection appeals to Ukrainians and asks that if outbreaks of migratory locusts are detected, they immediately report this to the territorial body of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection and take measures to treat crops and lands with insecticides in accordance with the State Register of Pesticides and Agrochemicals Permitted for Use in Ukraine , with mandatory compliance with the regulations for their use.