This month, Africa and India have fallen victims of a locust plague. Though the horrifying swarms of locust have not invaded China, the country has to face a new threat: fall armyworm. 

On March 5 2020, the Chinese government admitted at a press conference that fall armyworms have invaded the country. The fall armyworm is originally from tropical and subtropical Americas. Their first invasion to China happened in 2018. South and southwest provinces were the most affected. 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has warned that, this year, there will be more fall armyworms and they are arriving earlier than last year. 

Fall armyworms mainly feed on rice and corn, which makes them one of the most destructive agricultural pests. Targeted crops include cotton, tobacco, sweet corn, rice, peanuts, and even fruits such as apples and oranges. Because the larva eats so much of the plant, they are very detrimental to crop survival and yield. 

The insects are not resilient to low temperatures, they cannot migrate and breed at a temperature lower than 0 Celsius. Unluckily, global warming is at their favor. China has just experienced a warm winter, which created good conditions for the fall armyworms to breed on a large scale. 

So far, using drones to spray insecticides has been proved to be an efficient way to eliminate the pest. 

(Photos via VCG)

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