AGRICULTURAL NEWS - The initial outbreaks started in late September 2020 in the eastern and south-eastern Karoo and produced large migrating adult swarms in late November 2020 that invaded the south-eastern Free State towards Bloemfontein and threatened to invade Lesotho before being tracked down and controlled.
At the time of writing, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (agriculture department) confirmed that it was fighting new hopper outbreaks in Hopetown, Steynsburg, Britstown, Carnarvon, Vosburg, Loxton, Victoria West, Upington, Keimoes and Griekwastad.
Dr Roger Price, research team manager at the Agricultural Research Council, said brown locusts should not be confused with the desert locusts that have decimated crops in Eastern and Northern Africa and formed swarms of up to 400km² in size.
Brown locusts were endemic to the semi-arid Karoo areas of South Africa and southern Namibia, formed smaller swarms and did not produce the same devastating cycles as the desert locusts.
