Enhancing Attraction and Aggregation of Desert Locusts for Efficient
Harvesting: Push-Pull Approach
Abstract
Desert locusts ( Schistocerca gregaria) pause a significant
threat on food security. However, they also serve as a nutrient-rich
delicacy in many African and Arab communities where they are
traditionally harvested for food and feed during outbreaks. Traditional
harvesting methods are inefficient, laborious and time-consuming hence,
the need to explore more convenient and efficient techniques. This study
assessed preferential selection and feeding behavior of desert locusts
to identify trap plants that could attract and aggregate them for easy
harvesting. Four trap plants (cowpea, finger millet, sorghum, and
amaranth) and four repellent plants (neem, pencil cactus, garlic, and
cayenne red pepper) were evaluated through multiple-choice experiments.
A complete randomized design (CRD), mature adult, immature adult and
hopper stages of desert locust replicated thrice were involved .
One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine whether
treatment effects was significant or not, and mean differences between
treatments at p<0.05 were separated using post-hoc Tukey HSD.
Cowpea was the most preferred trap plant by the three locust stages,
while neem exhibited the most potent repellent effect. Neem as a push
plant repelled locusts thereby reducing infestation and damage of
cowpeas as a pull plant when both plants were grown in the same pot in a
“push-pull” system. However, cowpea attracted large numbers of locusts
repelled by neem for harvesting when both plants were grown in separate
pots. These findings provide valuable insights on the potential of
exploiting trap and repellents to enhance aggregation and harvesting of
desert locusts for use as food and feed.