Integrated Management Practices against Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal) in India: A Review
Ankit Upadhyay *
Department of Entomology, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur-208002, India.
Avinash Kumar Rai
Krishi Vigyan Kendra Ankushpur, Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Shravan Kumar Verma
Department of Entomology, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur-208002, India.
Lalit Upadhyay
KVK Reasi SKUAST-Jammu, India.
Anam Khan
Department of Entomology, SVPUAT, Meerut, India.
Omkar Singh
Department of Entomology, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut, U.P. - 250110, India.
Sandeep Rout
Faculty of Agriculture , Sri Sri University, Cuttack, Odisha - 754006, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Locusts are the most dangerous agricultural pests. They are belonging to family Acrididae. Gregarious locusts travel in swarms from one location to another in adult form. The desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal), is one of the grasshopper species that cause crop damage and can fly up to 150 km in the direction of the wind. The present state of knowledge on its biological regulation employing microbes and plant extracts is discussed. Metarhizium flavoviride was among the first fungi to be identified in the laboratory and field as a bio-control agent against desert locust. Following extensive investigation, with integrated pest management stratedies using these bio-controls would be a viable option for controlling desert locust infestations. Against the desert locust, IPM (Integrated Pest Management) approaches that emphasize the successful combination of chemical and biological insecticides with prediction and monitoring technology have been encouraged. Recent experimental investigations and researches are mainly focusing on identifying viable answers through financial collaboration between governmental and non-governmental organizations. The authors highlighted the loss in the agricultural sector due to desert locust infestation, as well as its sophisticated control and management solutions, after evaluating publications from numerous journals, magazines, and symposia.
Keywords: Bio-control, bio-pesticides, desert locust, microorganisms, botanical extracts traditional control methods.