Final report : USAID/Chad desert locust control program, 1988

The project provided the aerial services of a survey helicopter, 30,000 liters of pesticide, satellite imagery and other support costs, and additional aircraft for survey and aerial spraying. The arrival of two Turbo Thrush planes at the project site was delayed for weeks by necessary repairs and an erroneous report of security problems in Chad. Helicopter activities were delayed by changes in personnel, while the delivery of pesticide took 7 weeks longer than if it had been sent prior to the rainy season. These delays, however, had no adverse affect on the program since the locust situation never developed to the expected catastrophic levels due to unusually heavy rains. No major infestations were identified that would have warranted the use of the high-capacity spraying capabilities of the Turbo Thrush planes. Instead, these planes were used to ferry fuel for the survey helicopter and Pawnee spray plane funded by the French Assistance Program in West Africa (FAC), allowing them to survey an extensive area and spray 25,000 ha in the Ouaddai and Biltine Prefectures. One of the Turbo Thrush planes also sprayed about 600 ha in 5 different patches in the Biltine Prefecture because the area was too distant for the Pawnee plane. The helicopter was used to conduct a number of aerial surveys of locust populations and was then sent to provide similar assistance in Mauritania. Several lessons were learned. (1) Funds should be made available early in the season to enable timely contracting for services and procurement of commodities. (2) Alternatives to emergency pest control programs (e.g., provision of Title II cereals to cover crop losses) should be considered. (3) It is essential that emergency programs be vertically integrated. (4) Farmers are not prepared to use pesticides for locust control and instead use them to control other pests on vegetable crops. (5) Farmers in eastern Chad actively use traditional techniques to control locust larvae.