Desert Locust technical assessment (16-19 May 2013)

Keith Cressman Senior Locust Forecasting Officer, FAO Rome

Executive summary

1. On 2 March 2013, the FAO Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS) warned Israel that Desert Locust groups and swarms were likely to arrive in the Desert from Egypt on 3-4 March. Within 12 hours, the Plant Protection and Inspection Service (PPIS) had informed the office of the Prime Minister, established a 24-hour telephone hotline for reporting sightings, deployed teams, equipment, and pesticide, and placed aircraft on standby. 2. On 4 March, swarms first arrived, quickly matured and laid eggs on 15 March that hatched in mid- April, causing hopper bands to form in the Negev Desert. 3. PPIS treated 14,400 ha of adult groups and swarms (4 March - 2 April) and 14,100 ha of hopper groups and bands (15 April to present) of which half were by air. The cost of the control efforts so far are estimated at more than USD 4 million. 4. The Reporting Officer made an unscheduled emergency visit to assess the current situation by helicopter and ground means, and to discuss the situation, response and outlook with PPIS. 5. Fourth instar hopper bands are present within a 1,300 km2 area in the northwest of the Negev Desert, south of Gaza and in adjacent to the Sinai Peninsula. The hoppers will start to become adults before the end of May, and a few small immature groups and swarms are likely to form by early June that could threaten crops before they migrate to the summer breeding areas in Sudan. Local movements back and forth across the Egypt/Israel border can be expected from the last week of May and should not be mistaken for a general invasion. 6. The current strategy should be to control as many as possible of all hopper populations that are present in the infested area. Although crop protection may be a priority, all hopper infestations that are currently detected in the dune area should be treated in order to reduce the scale of adult populations that could threaten crops. 7. Current survey and control operations should be maintained until the end of June; thereafter, the situation should return to normal. 8. There are sufficient teams, equipment, pesticide, and aircraft to undertake the necessary survey and control operations in the infested areas in Israel. 9. Survey and control operations are in progress against similar populations in adjacent areas of northeastern Sinai by Egyptian locust teams but are limited by insecurity. 10. FAO can play an important role in improving Desert Locust control in Israel now and in the future by: (1) providing training on technical and operational aspects of Desert Locust including biology, survey, reporting, control and contingency planning, (2) continuing to provide early warning and keeping Israel informed of the Desert Locust situation in Egypt, (3) encouraging direct communication by email or telephone between the national locust programs in Israel and Egypt in order to facilitate the sharing of information on a regular basis regarding survey and control results undertaken in both countries, and (4) exploring possibilities that Israel become a member of the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC). DESERT LOCUST ASSESSMENT ISRAEL (MAY 2013)

Desert Locust technical assessment Israel (16-19 May 2013)

Keith Cressman Senior Locust Forecasting Officer, FAO Rome

1. Background During the winter of 2012/13, unusually good Desert Locust breeding occurred along the Red Sea coastal plains on both sides of the Sudan/Egypt border from December to February. Immature adults formed groups and small swarms by mid-February. Some of these populations moved north along the Red Sea coast, reaching Cairo on 2 March and continuing to the northern coast of the Sinai Peninsula the following day (Annex 1, Fig. 1). Other groups and small swarms are thought to have reached the Gulf of Suez and penetrated the interior of the Sinai Peninsula during March. This could not be confirmed due to insecurity and the related lack of surveys.

The FAO Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS) issued a Desert Locust Warning to Israel on 2 March that immature adult groups and small swarms were likely to invade the Negev Desert on 3-4 March. On 4 March, at least one small immature group arrived in the northern Negev Desert at Be'er Milka (3056N/ 3424E), and a small immature swarm crossed the nearby border at Nitzana (3053N/3425E) on the 5th. Isolated immature gregarious adults from the northern Sinai Peninsula appeared on the coastal plains from south of Tel Aviv to north of Haifa on 4-6 March (Annex 1, Fig. 2). Another wave of immature groups and small swarms appeared from the 10th onwards, dispersing across the northern Negev between Nitzana, Ze'elim (3112N/3432E), and Arad (3115N/3512E). The adults did not cause significant damage to crops as they had eaten at their origin along the Egypt/Sudan border. Instead, they matured quickly and started laying eggs on 15 March and continued until the end of the month. The eggs started hatching on 10 April, in other words, 26 days after laying which is almost two weeks longer than normal due to relatively low temperatures. The hatchlings formed numerous small but dense hopper bands. By mid-May, the majority of the hoppers had reached the fourth instar stage.

The Plant Protection and Inspection Service (PPIS), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is coordinating the control campaigns. Two campaigns have been undertaken: one against the adult groups and swarms that arrived from Egypt in which ground and aerial PPIS teams treated 14,400 ha from 3 March to 2 April 2013, and one against hopper groups and bands arising from subsequent local breeding in which 14,100 ha were treated from mid-April to present1. EC-formulated pyrethroid pesticides, Lambda- cyhalothrin and Lambda-cypermethrin, were used in the adult and hopper campaigns, respectfully.

2. Current situation Infested area. Desert Locust infestations are currently present within an area of about 1,300 km2 in the northwest of the Negev Desert in western Israel, adjacent to the Sinai Peninsula. The infested area is defined by Gaza to the north, the Egyptian border to the west, cropping areas on the edge of the Negev to the east, and the Mitzpe Ramon canyon to the south. The area is roughly 34 km wide (east-west) by 37 km long (north-south).

Habitat. A few wadis bisect the area in the south (Nahal Laban) and southeast (Nahal Besor). The habitat consists of low sand dunes, ridges, depressions and inter-dunal areas containing dry annual grasses and small shrubs mixed with perennial bushes that remain green in the wadis but are drying out on the dunes.

1 Adult campaign (ILS 1.9 million): 5,400 ha treated by air and 9,000 ha by ground; hopper campaign (ILS 13 million): 9,100 ha treated by air and 5,000 ha by ground

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There are no roads or settlements in the dune area. A few villages and agricultural areas are located on the periphery in the southwest at the Egyptian border (Be'er Milka, Nitzana, ), the southeast (, Telalim, , Halutsa), and in the northeast (Ze’elim). Primarily potatoes, cereals, orchards and olive trees are present at this time of year. The area also contains a natural reserve and a military training zone with limited access. The border is fenced and fortified. The habitat south of this area is less favourable for Desert Locust survival and breeding because it is drier, rockier and less sandy. Substantial agriculture is found northwest of this area, stretching for about 200 km along the Tel Aviv coastal plain from Beer Sheva in the south to Haifa and the Lebanese border in the north. There is a distinct difference in the habitat in adjacent areas of the Sinai Peninsula west of the border where much less vegetation is present in the dune area, perhaps due to overgrazing. As a result, the habitat is likely to be more favourable for Desert Locust survival and breeding on the Egyptian side of the border.

Survey results. The chief survey officer2 and Reporting Officer (RO) conducted a 2.5 hour helicopter survey within the infested area (Annex 2). Small groups and bands of mainly gregarious fourth instar hoppers were seen from the air in the dune area. These were confirmed on the ground during several short landings. The largest and heaviest concentrations were present in Nahal Besor near Halutsa where small dense hopper bands were seen from the air in open spaces between the large green perennial bushes along a one km stretch of the wadi. A ground survey was carried out in the northern portion of the infested area with PPIS3, confirming the results of the helicopter survey. The hopper bands were actively marching in the morning and afternoon, and were roosting at mid-day. Due to the differences of habitat on either side of the border, there may be larger infestations present on the Egyptian side. However, this has yet to be confirmed. Large numbers of migratory storks were seen throughout most of the area. Normally, their migration route is to the east of the infested area; however, they were present in the infested area this year and remained so for a longer period than normal, presumably because the Desert Locust infestations were a good source of food.

Field operations. The PPIS who is coordinating the control campaign is in regular contact with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Survey and control operations are in progress by ground and air in the infested area, using Ze’elim as a base with its nearby airstrip. The campaign consists of 40 technical PPIS staff, including 12 two-person teams, 12 4WD pickups, 10 airblast EC sprayers, 2 Unimogs with airblast EC sprayers, 14 Turbo Thrust aircraft of which up to 5 are in use, and one Bell helicopter. The aircraft are contracted privately as well as some of the control teams4. Communications are by mobile telephone and ICOM ground-air VHF radios. High-resolution military-issued maps are used. An EC- formulated pyrethroid, Lambda-cypermethrin, is the pesticide used for current control operations because of its low toxicity to reptiles and birds. It is also desirable because it is formulated in Israel. The country does not have ULV formulated pesticides or spray equipment available for Desert Locust control. During the campaign, available vehicle-mounted airblast sprayers, and boom and nozzle sprayers mounted on tractors and aircraft were used. These types of sprayers are not normally used in Desert Locust control operations. eLocust2 units are not available for survey and control data recording and transmission because they were never distributed to Israel since it is not a frontline country. DGPS and track guidance are not used during aerial control operations. The current resources are more than sufficient to cover the infested area during the extent of the campaign. The RO observed aerial control operations by a fixed- wing Turbo Thrush aircraft using boom and nozzle equipment for EC formulated pesticides to treat an estimated 100 ha block containing numerous fourth instar hopper groups and small bands. The operation was supported by a ground team and radio/mobile communications.

2 Yoav Motro

3 Moshe Weiss, Nadav Ezra and Miriam Freund

4 Turbo Thrush fixed-wing aircraft – less than ILS 2,000/hr (USD 545); Bell helicopter – ILS 8,000/hr (USD 2,000)

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Most of the control operations are concentrated in those areas that are in close proximity to crops and farms rather than attempting to treat all the infestations that are present within the dune area. Given the relatively short distances and small areas, this may be short-sighted as once hoppers fledge, it will be easy for adults to move to cropping areas from the dunes.

3. Outlook The current hopper infestations will continue to develop and, based on expected temperatures, fledging should commence during the last week of May and be complete by early June. Consequently, any hopper infestations that are not detected or treated will form groups and small immature swarms by early June. A similar situation is expected for adjacent areas of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Therefore, groups and small immature swarms are likely to mill back and forth along both sides of the border during the last week of May and in early June. This should not be confused with a general invasion. There is a high risk that adults will infest irrigated fruit, vegetable and cereal crops on the periphery of the currently infested area where there is potential for considerable damage prior to a general migration towards the southwest and the summer breeding areas of central Sudan. It is unlikely that migration will occur towards the northeast and the Tel Aviv coastal plain. Similarly, any Desert Locust infestations in the central and southern Sinai Peninsula are not expected to invade Israel; instead, they too will move southwest to central Sudan.

4. Briefings The RO briefed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, PPIS, and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority regarding the current situation and outlook for the Region as well as strategies to contain the current infestations in Israel5. All parties expressed substantial concern about the Desert Locust situation in Egypt, in particular the lack of survey and control operations in the Sinai. The uncertainty about the current situation is causing unnecessary worry and panic in the country.

The PPIS Director expressed interest in Israel becoming a member of the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC) because it was felt that the country could benefit from training and contingency planning activities organized by CRC for non-frontline countries. This could help to address insufficiencies in trained PPIS staff and general preparedness to face infrequent invasions and breeding in the future.

The RO provided several copies of reference material (Desert Locust Guidelines, Standard Operating procedures, Master Training Manual, survey and control forms, DLCC session reports, Pesticide Referee Panel reports, biopesticides, Israel reports since 1953, technical series, and other publications) that can be used for training and field operations.

5. Recommendations Based on the field visit and in-depth discussions with all relevant parties, a number of technical clarifications and recommendations have been suggested.

(a) Hoppers will start fledging in about 10-12 days since temperatures are only about 30°C during the day and less than 20°C at night;

5 Itzhak Ben-David (Deputy Director General Foreign Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Miriam Freund (Director, Plant Protection and Inspection Services (PPIS), MOARD), Abraham Gamliel (Head, Laboratory for Pest Management Research, The Volcani Center (ARO), Institute of Agicultural Engineering, MOARD), and Yehoshua Shkedy (Chief Scientist, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)

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(b) It will take about 2-3 days for the wings of the new adults to harden, after which they will make short test flights, and then look for food in nearby areas, including crops;

(c) Local movements back and forth across the Egypt/Israel border can be expected and should not be mistaken for invasion;

(d) General migration towards the southwest and central Sudan can be expected to take place in June;

(e) There are sufficient teams, equipment, pesticide, and aircraft to undertake the necessary survey and control operations in the infested areas;

(f) The helicopter should be continued for surveys and expanded to assist as a spotter in guiding fixed-wing aircraft during control operations;

(g) The fixed-wing aircraft should be continued for control operations;

(h) Although crop protection may be a priority, all hopper infestations that are currently detected in the dune area should be treated in order to reduce the scale of adult populations that could threaten crops;

(i) The current strategy should be to control as many as possible of all hopper populations that are present in the infested area;

(j) Concentrate more on the known situation in Israel and worry less about the unknown situation in Egypt;

(k) The substantial efforts that have been done so far by PPIS have protected the country’s agricultural production and food security;

(l) Current survey and control operations should be maintained for approximately another five weeks; thereafter, the situation should return to normal by the end of June.

6. Desert Locust situation in Egypt The RO met with the Director of the Desert Locust programme in Egypt and the CRC Executive Secretary on 20 May. The Director indicated that seven teams were operating in northeastern Sinai, adjacent to the current infestations in Israel. However, the teams cannot move freely in the area due to insecurity and are not allowed to make surveys. Therefore, they rely on locals and scouts for information. In the past week, they have been escorted to farms to undertake control operations against third and fourth instar hopper groups and small bands of medium density, similar to the infestations in Israel. A total of 325 ha were treated from 16 to 21 May. Elsewhere, small hopper groups are present further south near Abu Zenima, Nuweiba and St. Catherina. Field operations continue throughout the Sinai.

In response to the issue of direct communications with Israel and the possibility of sending Desert Locust situation summaries by email to PPIS, the Director felt that it was better if FAO DLIS could forward these reports to Israel, and continue to act as an important intermediary between the two countries.

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7. Conclusion Israel rarely has to face Desert Locust infestations and undertake control operations. The country was last invaded in November 2004 by several small immature swarms that first arrived in the south near Eilat and the Arava Valley from Egypt, and then moved north to Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The last time that breeding was reported in Israel was at the end of the last great plague period in April 1961.

Despite the infrequent occurrence of Desert Locust in Israel, the country very quickly mobilized its resources as soon as they received the alert from DLIS. Within 12 hours, the office of the Prime Minister was informed, a 24-hour telephone hotline had been established for reporting Desert Locust sightings, teams, equipment, and pesticide were deployed to the Negev and aircraft were placed on standby.

The Government has spent more than USD 4 million so far in controlling the Desert Locust infestations: ILS 1.9 million (USD 515,000) on the adult control campaign during March and ILS 13 million (USD 3.5 million) on the hopper campaign since mid-April.

The primary deficiencies of the current response is a lack of trained staff and appropriate ULV sprayers and formulations, poor knowledge of Desert Locust biology, insufficient experience in Desert Locust survey and control, and the absence of systematic data collection, analysis and reporting. These deficiencies are often found in many non-frontline countries that rarely face Desert Locust. The situation in Israel is further compounded by no direct communication and information exchange with Egypt, a key frontline country.

FAO can play an important role in improving Desert Locust control in Israel now and in the future by: (1) providing training on technical and operational aspects of Desert Locust including biology, survey, reporting, control and contingency planning, (2) continuing to provide early warning and keeping Israel informed of the Desert Locust situation in Egypt, (3) encouraging direct communication by email or telephone between the national locust programs in Israel and Egypt in order to facilitate the sharing of information on a regular basis regarding survey and control results undertaken in both countries, and (4) exploring possibilities that Israel become a member of the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC).

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Annex 1. Desert Locust migration, February-March 2013

EGYPT SAUDI ARABIA

SUDAN N 0 500 km

Figure 1. Northerly movements of Desert Locust adult groups and swarms in February (white) and March (red) 2013.

JORDAN

EGYPT

N 0 100 km

Figure 2. Movements of Desert Locust adult groups (white) and swarms (red) in Israel during March 2013.

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Annex 2. Helicopter and ground surveys, 17 May 2013

Ze’elim

Nahal Besor ISRAEL

EGYPT

Nitzana N 0 10 km

Figure 1. Ground and aerial survey carried out on 17 May 2013 in combination with areas of green vegetation in the last decade of April (blue dots = survey route and stops; red = 10-day old green vegetation, orange = 20-day old vegetation; blue dashed = estimated area infested)

Figure 2. Small dense fourth instar hopper bands (red circles) seen from the air in Nahal Besor near Halutsa (17 May 2013).

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