FAO Plant Protection Bulletin (1953) 1, 52-55

G.S. Cotterell (1953)
Major pests of crops in Afghanistan: a preliminary note
FAO Plant Protection Bulletin 1, 52-55
Abstract: The major pests of crops in Afghansitan include the indigenous locust, Dociostaurus maroccanus and Calliptamus italicus, which severely injure wheat and other crops, and Schistocerca gregaria which periodicaly enters the western and south western desert areas from Persia and Pakistan, but is less harmful, though its importance may increase with the development of irrigation projects in the south west. D. maroccanus and C. italicus have one generation per year and breed in the steppe regions and foothills of the north up to 3,000 ft. Eggs laid in June and July in soil covered with sparse vegetation hatch in spring, and hoppers and adults migrate to cultivated areas. In May and June, 1952, a few mature swarms of Schistocerca gregaria and fledglings from breedig areas in Persia entered the south-western and western desert areas and one swarm from breeding areas in Pakistan and India had entered south-eastern Afghnistan by October. In 1954, swarms from Persia were more numerous, but caused little damage to crops.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied from Acridological Abstracts with permission by NRI, Univ. of Greenwich at Medway.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
damage/losses/economics
population dynamics/ epidemiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Schistocerca gregaria		Afghanistan
	Dociostaurus maroccanus		Afghanistan
	Calliptamus italicus		Afghanistan