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Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-swarm-crop-damage-seen-limited-idUSKBN23W34K
June 25, 2020 / 2:50 PM / Updated 2 hours ago
Argentina, Brazil monitor massive locust swarm; crop damage seen limited
Maximilian Heath, Ana Mano
BUENOS AIRES/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Argentina and Brazil are monitoring the movement of a 15-square-kilometer locust swarm in Argentina’s northeast, though authorities and specialists said so far it had not caused significant damage to crops in the South American countries.
Argentine food safety body SENASA said the swarm, which initially entered Argentina from Paraguay in late May, contained about 40 million insects. It is in the province of Corrientes, near borders with Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.
Argentina and Brazil are among the world’s largest soy and corn exporters.
“We are following the movement of the plague,” H?ctor Medina, a coordinator at SENASA, told Reuters on Thursday. Due to the arrival of a cold weather front from the south, the movement of the locusts would be limited in the coming days, he added.
The low temperatures “will prevent them from moving and reproducing. The lethargy makes them stay still,” Medina said. Winds could eventually push the cloud of locusts into a neighboring country, he added.
Brazil’s agriculture ministry is also monitoring the swarm and has asked farmers in the south of the country to be on alert, although it has concluded that the locust cloud is unlikely to move into Brazilian territory for now...
June 25, 2020 / 2:50 PM / Updated 2 hours ago
Argentina, Brazil monitor massive locust swarm; crop damage seen limited
Maximilian Heath, Ana Mano
BUENOS AIRES/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Argentina and Brazil are monitoring the movement of a 15-square-kilometer locust swarm in Argentina’s northeast, though authorities and specialists said so far it had not caused significant damage to crops in the South American countries.
Argentine food safety body SENASA said the swarm, which initially entered Argentina from Paraguay in late May, contained about 40 million insects. It is in the province of Corrientes, near borders with Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.
Argentina and Brazil are among the world’s largest soy and corn exporters.
“We are following the movement of the plague,” H?ctor Medina, a coordinator at SENASA, told Reuters on Thursday. Due to the arrival of a cold weather front from the south, the movement of the locusts would be limited in the coming days, he added.
The low temperatures “will prevent them from moving and reproducing. The lethargy makes them stay still,” Medina said. Winds could eventually push the cloud of locusts into a neighboring country, he added.
Brazil’s agriculture ministry is also monitoring the swarm and has asked farmers in the south of the country to be on alert, although it has concluded that the locust cloud is unlikely to move into Brazilian territory for now...