Locust-Tec
Locust plagues are a serious threat to agricultural production, food security and the environment in many parts of the world, including Kazakhstan, the world's 9th largest state. Persistent periods of drought, climate change and changes in land use in Kazakhstan are further increasing the likelihood and intensity of locust pest outbreaks.
The project Locust-Tec (Introducing innovative and environmentally friendly technologies for locust management in Kazakhstan) deals with innovative solutions for prediction of locust outbreaks, effective locust monitoring and development of environmentally friendly locust control. Remote Sensing technologies, mobile GIS and drone-based measurements, and a mechanical and therefore insecticide-free locust control method will contribute to an improved locust management.
The partner consortium under the lead of the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) comprises the companies Schwing and Dr. Neureither, Quellwerke and Horizont, the Kazakh Research Institute for Crop Protection and Quarantine, the Methodological Center for Phytosanitary Diagnostics and Prognosis in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Locust-Tec is a research project funded by the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) under the funding guideline "CLIENT II - International Partnerships for Sustainable Innovations".