This plague is capable of affecting more than 400 different crops, such as corn, beans, sorghum, soybeans, sugar cane, just to name a few.
The Plant Health Committee of Quintana Roo announced that the state is in the monitoring stage to detect and combat the arrival of the Central American locust, capable of affecting more than 400 crops.
Evaristo Gómez Díaz, president of Cesaveqroo, pointed out that according to the data that has flowed from the National Service of Health, Safety and Agro-Food Quality (Senasica) Quintana Roo, along with Campeche, Chiapas, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Yucatan are the States currently on alert where a campaign against this plague will be carried out.
“This is a pest that can feed on more than 400 species of plants, mainly affecting crops of corn, beans, sorghum, soybeans, sugar cane, chili, tomato, citrus, banana, coconut, mango and also grasslands,” the statement says.
Forecasts estimate that the environmental conditions and biological cycles of this species predict the occurrence of outbreaks of “Central American Locust” between the second half of 2020 and the middle of 2022, which could greatly affect regional agriculture.
And according to technical data, the Central American locust (Schistocerca piceifrons Walker), is an insect that feeds on up to 400 different plant species; that has a high reproductive potential and a behavior tending towards gregarization, that is, the formation of sides and sleeves, capable of covering from a few meters to several square kilometers.
The sleeves have the capacity to move at a speed of up to 20 kilometers per hour, covering great distances in a short time, which is why they represent a risk for the agricultural sector in Mexico.
The origin of this plague goes back to the beginning of agriculture, the oldest record is perhaps the Mayan sacred book “El Popol Vuh”. In Mexico, from the year 1824, the locust was declared as a national pest and provisions were established to combat it.
Finally, the statement said that thanks to the actions of detection and timely control by the personnel of the National Service of Health, Safety and Agro-Food Quality (Senasica), through Cesaveqroo, the plague has not represented a risk of damage or economic losses that may represent up to 100 percent of the crops of the economic importance of the State and the country.
