CAIRO: Officials at Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture said it was unlikely that Egypt will be hit by locust raids this summer from the Red Sea coast during their annual migration from Somalia and Ethopia. Press reports said that the Ethiopian authorities were taking extra precautionary measures to prevent desert locusts from entering Ethiopia before moving to the eastern coast of Red Sea and finally to Egypt. "This is the summer breeding season for locusts, which takes place annually at the equator during the rainy summer season. There is a high possibility that it crosses the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia, Mohamed Abdel Rahman, director of the General Department for locusts and Agro-Aviation at the Ministry of Agriculture, told Daily News Egypt. "Egypt won't be affected because of the lack of rain and other convenient weather conditions. However, if their numbers continue to increase without sufficient combat campaigns we might be affected during the winter season, he said. However, Abdel Rahman added, a locust raid during the winter season depends on factors like humidity and wind movement. A report issued by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that the locust situation in northern Somalia and in Yemen remains unclear due to the lack of ground surveys that only resumed Thursday, to check areas where immature swarms have been reported. "There remains a high risk that a few small swarms from northern Ethiopia could reach the summer breeding areas of western Eritrea and central Sudan while others could move to the eastern coast of the Arabian peninsula, read the report. Abdel Rahman ruled out the likelihood of locust swarms crossing into Egypt despite their existence very close to the southern borders of Egypt in Darfur. "Locusts travel to seek food, so since there is neither summer rain nor agricultural land across the southern borders, there is no possibility of locust raids, he said. He emphasized that each country must survey reported locations of locusts and intervene in case they form significantly large swarms, "but unfortunately the current locations are politically unstable preventing any interventions, Abdel Rahman said. Another problem is the poor facilities available to countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and even Yemen which necessitates the intervention of international organizations. According to Abdel Rahman, regular communication with these countries informs Egypt s strategy concerning locusts. A conference will be held in Cairo this August bringing together Red Sea countries to evaluate the summer breeding season and to prepare the strategy for the upcoming winter season. In the meantime, Abdel Rahman said, Egyptian combating teams are present on the borders to intervene in the case of emergency. Giant red locust last raided Egypt in November 2004. There were extraordinary rain conditions for three years in west Africa, then wind carried the swarms to the western desert of Egypt and instead of moving south to Sudan and up again to the Red Sea, they crossed Egypt horizontally directly through Cairo and Alexandria, Abdel Rahman explained. Fortunately, the swarms were in a state of sexual maturing and weren t looking for food, and thus caused no serious damage to local harvests.
