Special Issue "How to Manage Migratory Pests and Potential Food Crises: Locusts Plagues in the 2020’s"
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Pest and Disease Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2021.
Special Issue Editors
Interests: locusts; grasshoppers; locust control; locust biology; locust ecology
Interests: ecophysiology; plant-animal interactions; social-ecological systems; Integrated Pest Management; entomology; sustainable development
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Locusts (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) constitute a threat to agriculture and livelihoods in many countries globally. The economic, social, and environmental consequences of these highly migratory pests are so substantial that they are treated as a national priority by many countries and several international commissions have been established to unite efforts. The start of 2020 was marked by the continued South American locust upsurge—the first major upsurge of this species in 60 years, as well as the onset of a dangerous desert locust invasion now extending from Kenya to India—the first many of these countries have seen in decades. This special issue aims to shed light on the overarching questions: What have we learned from historical outbreaks, what research is ongoing and what is needed, how serious is the current threat, and how should the world respond to plagues today? Articles in this special issue may address locust issues concerning any of the following: biotic and abiotic factors that affect population and/or behavioral dynamics including the potential role of climate change, surveys and monitoring, forecasting, management technologies, governance including the capacity of affected countries to respond, the impact of outbreaks (economic, social, and/or environmental), or related research. Specific questions authors may wish to consider include: What are the primary drivers of the current outbreaks and is climate change involved? Are recommended preventative strategies effective and what are the constraints to their application? Is there a possibility to use biological alternatives to chemical pesticides? What additional research is needed to better manage these insects? Papers addressing similar topics for other transboundary migratory pests are also welcome.
Dr. Michel Lecoq
Dr. Arianne Cease
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- Locusts
- Pests
- Outbreaks
- Invasions
- Monitoring and forecasting
- Preventive management strategy
- Food crisis
- Biological control
- Sustainability
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: State of the art on Management of the Central American locust-Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons (Walker, 1870)
Authors: Ludivina Barrientos-Lozano1*, Jorge Ariel Torres-Castillo2, Aurora Y. Rocha-Sánchez1
Affiliation: Tecnológico Nacional de México-I. T. de Ciudad Victoria. Blvd. Emilio Portes Gil No.1301. Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, México. C.P. 87010. Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas-Instituto de Ecología Aplicada. División del Golfo 356, Col. Libertad, 87019, Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, México.
Abstract: Abstract. The Central American locust-Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons (Walker, 1870), is an endemic and transboundary pest that distributes from Northern Mexico to Central America. The oldest record on this locust species is perhaps in “The Popol Vuh”, the Mayan sacred book. In Mexico, it was declared as a national threat to agriculture since 1824. Serious locust plagues date back to 1882-1883 when swarms of 20 km size invaded the Yucatán Peninsula and neighbor States in southern Mexico. A better understanding on the biology, ecology, and behavior of the Central American locust replaced manual and mechanical collection of locust (swarms, hopper bands, egg pods) performed in the XIX century, by modern management techniques as the use of safer chemical products and environmentally benign bio-insecticides. At present, bio-models and GIS support monitoring and forecasting of outbreaks. In the most recent outbreak, 2018-2020, the National Service of Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA) introduced drones for monitoring locust populations, in addition to land monitoring. Currently, studies are conducted to investigate the Central American locust bioactive compounds and nutritional contents, envisioning its potential use in biotechnological and food industries.
Authors: Mamour Toure; Arianne Cease; Marion Le Gall; Amadou Fall; Alana Burnham; Alioune Beye
Affiliation: 1 UFR EFSS, Gaston Berger University, Saint Louis, Senegal 2 School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA 3 School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA 4 Biology Animal Department, FST, UCAD, Dakar, Senegal 5 Direction de la Protection des Végétaux, Nganda, Senegal
Abstract: - Oedaleus senegalensis (Krauss, 1877) is a widespread pest in the Sahel and causes significant losses of food crops. This insect prefers nitrogen-poor plants, with low protein and high carbohydrate contents, in natural and laboratory environments. The main objective of this study was to scale up results from prior studies to implement a soil amendment intervention at the community level. We worked with 100 farmer participants from two villages in the Kaffrine and Fatick regions of Senegal. Each farmer delineated one hectare of their millet for control and amended another hectare with the ISRA-recommended application of fertilizer for millet in the region. We found that, in fertilized fields as compared to control fields, (a) millet leaf protein:carbohydrate ratio increased; (b) O. senegalensis densities and grasshopper damage were decreased by an average of 34.42% and 51.92%, respectively; (c) and millet yield was increased by 45.74%. Further, millet leaf protein:carbohydrate ratio was negatively correlated with O. senegalensis densities and positively correlated with millet yield. These results suggest that community-based management that increases soil fertility for cereal crops has the dual benefit of enhancing crop growth and creating an unfavorable nutritional environment for a major Sahelian pest, ultimately increasing yield and improving food security