Could Entomophagy Be an Effective Mitigation Measure in Desert Locust Management?

Abstract

The desert locust has been a notorious pest since ancient times. A population upsurge hit Pakistan in 2019 and caused tremendous damage to agriculture and livelihoods. To take advantage of this ongoing upsurge, we conducted a field study to verify whether locust collection could be an interesting control method to protect crops in the event of an invasion, as well as an accepted food resource for poor rural communities. A village in the Thar desertic region was selected as a type-locality. An awareness campaign was launched to promote the collection and consumption of locusts as well as to alert people of their nutritional value. Two large swarms arrived near the village and several other swarms affected places nearby. Around 3033 kg of locusts were collected through handpicking at night. Most of the locusts were eaten and, as a result, hoppers of the next generation did not emerge in the type-locality; however, hopper bands appeared in areas where entomophagy was not practiced. The study area had less locust activity because swarms could not lay eggs due to entomophagy by the villagers. The consumption of desert locusts could be an effective practice to prevent malnutrition and protein deficiency and, to a certain extent, an efficient mitigation measure to help local populations to better protect themselves and their crops against locust outbreaks. Collection and consumption of locusts should be encouraged while remaining realistic about its real impact on locust control. This should also be done in concert with local authorities to take into account the risks to human health and to avoid the consumption of insects treated with pesticides.

Full text

agronomy
Article
Could Entomophagy Be an Effective Mitigation Measure in
Desert Locust Management?
Ahmed Ali Samejo 1, Riffat Sultana 1,*, Santosh Kumar 2and Samiullah Soomro 1


Citation: Samejo, A.A.; Sultana, R.;
Kumar, S.; Soomro, S. Could
Entomophagy Be an Effective
Mitigation Measure in Desert Locust
Management? Agronomy 2021,11,
455. https://doi.org/10.3390/
agronomy11030455
Academic Editors: Michel Lecoq,
Arianne Cease and Imre J. Holb
Received: 26 January 2021
Accepted: 25 February 2021
Published: 28 February 2021
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
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iations.
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
1Department of Zoology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro 75500, Pakistan; samejo_ali7@hotmail.com (A.A.S.);
samiullah.soomro@scholars.usindh.edu.pk (S.S.)
2
Department of Zoology, Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bahawalpur 75500, Pakistan;
santoshkumar@cuvas.edu.pk
*Correspondence: riffat.sultana@usindh.edu.pk
Abstract: The desert locust has been a notorious pest since ancient times. A population upsurge hit
Pakistan in 2019 and caused tremendous damage to agriculture and livelihoods. To take advantage
of this ongoing upsurge, we conducted a field study to verify whether locust collection could be
an interesting control method to protect crops in the event of an invasion, as well as an accepted
food resource for poor rural communities. A village in the Thar desertic region was selected as a
type-locality. An awareness campaign was launched to promote the collection and consumption
of locusts as well as to alert people of their nutritional value. Two large swarms arrived near the
village and several other swarms affected places nearby. Around 3033 kg of locusts were collected
through handpicking at night. Most of the locusts were eaten and, as a result, hoppers of the next
generation did not emerge in the type-locality; however, hopper bands appeared in areas where
entomophagy was not practiced. The study area had less locust activity because swarms could
not lay eggs due to entomophagy by the villagers. The consumption of desert locusts could be an
effective practice to prevent malnutrition and protein deficiency and, to a certain extent, an efficient
mitigation measure to help local populations to better protect themselves and their crops against
locust outbreaks. Collection and consumption of locusts should be encouraged while remaining
realistic about its real impact on locust control. This should also be done in concert with local
authorities to take into account the risks to human health and to avoid the consumption of insects
treated with pesticides.
Keywords: entomophagy; malnutrition; desert locust; outbreak; food; insect
1. Introduction
Among the large number of pest locust species, the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria
(Forskål, 1775) is the best known and most feared across borders and centuries. Major
invasions follow one another at high frequency (eight for the period 1860–1962) [
1
–
3
].
These invasions occur when rainfall conditions are favorable to the insects (rainfall well
distributed in time and space) in their primary breeding areas. Outbreaks are mainly located
in desertic zones that are often difficult to access, but whose total area remains limited
(12%) relative to the total area that can be invaded by swarms (up to 31 million km
2
) [
2
,
4
].
Plagues of desert locusts are disastrous for agriculture and vegetation, destroy cash crops
and livestock, and cost billions of dollars to control. The two most recent upsurges in
1986–1989 and 2003–2005 required treatment with insecticides mainly in Africa and the
Middle East, 16.8 and 13 million hectares, and costing an estimated 274 and 500 million US
dollars, respectively [5–7].
Desert locusts are difficult to combat but can be controlled by proactive monitoring,
early action, and the targeted use of appropriate control measures, as needed. Prevention
is coordinated internationally by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na-
tions (FAO) [
8
–
11
]. Thanks to this strategy, ever-more efficient pesticides, and other control
Agronomy 2021,11, 455. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11030455 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy

Agronomy 2021,11, 455 2 of 8
measures, new products that are less environmentally damaging, such as the mycopesti-
cides, and 50 years of hindsight, the invasions are now less frequent, less widespread, and
if they cannot be stopped at an early stage, shorter lived and better managed [
1
,
3
,
10
,
12
–
16
].
This insect was calamitous in the past [
5
,
17
], and dramatic events continue to occur.
For various reasons, some outbreaks cannot be stopped at an early stage [
12
,
14
,
18
]. During
outbreaks, the swarms disperse quickly over a vast territory; control measures are not used
because they are too expensive and difficult to utilize; villagers are overwhelmed in the face
of the massive and sudden arrival of the swarms; and crop damage is considerable [
3
,
14
].
This is evidenced by the recent upsurge initiated in 2018, which is still ongoing. Originating
on the southern Arabian Peninsula, S. gregaria has invaded much of East Africa, the Middle
East, and Southwest Asia to Pakistan and India and is causing alarm for the food security
of many developing and poor countries [
9
,
19
]. The economic, social, and environmental
consequences of such events may persist or appear several years later [20].
Whether for prevention or in the event of an upsurge, organizing control measures
relies mainly on state agencies. Rural communities are often destitute with no means at
their disposal. These farmers have developed physical methods that they continue to
practice: making noise or burning tires to scare away swarms, burning locusts as they roost
at night in the vegetation, digging trenches and burying hopper bands, and plowing the
egg-laying fields to destroy the eggs [
21
]. Harvesting locusts as food can replace other
control methods [
22
]. Manual collection, which may seem derisory, is widely practiced
around the world and represents a control method (to reduce the local population), a
nutritionally interesting food resource, and a source of income for families to at least
partially compensate for crop damage.
The practice of entomophagy is ancient. Locusts have been consumed for centuries
and still are in some regions today. In many countries around the world, they are considered
a delicacy [
23
–
25
]. Entomophagy is an old strategy used to get food after locusts have
devastated crops, and the FAO [
24
] has already documented the importance of edible
insects including locusts. When they are swarming, locusts can be collected in large
numbers (a single swarm can cover 1200 km
2
), relatively quickly and easily during the
night when they remain almost motionless. The insects can be collected using hands, bags,
and buckets. Nutritionally, locusts are excellent sources of protein and other essential
nutrients, both as food for people or feed for other animals [
26
,
27
]. To take advantage
of the ongoing upsurge in Pakistan, we conducted a field study to verify whether locust
collection could indeed control locust populations as well as be an accepted food resource
for poor rural communities.
2. Materials and Methods
Selection of Villages and Local People Awareness
Ten villages of the Mahandre-Jo-Par union council (25
◦
35
0
17.59
00
N/70
◦
10
0
13.16
00
E),
in the Thar desertic area within Sindh province, were selected as a study site (Figure 1).
A sensitization program was conducted in June–July 2019 (1) to raise awareness of the
benefits of consuming desert locusts as a source of protein and (2) to determine if collecting
locusts on a massive scale could control their proliferation. To remove any reluctance, the
villagers were reminded that locusts are halal in the Islamic religion.
Villagers collected locusts at night, by hand picking, in July–October 2019, using light
traps (torches or headlights of vehicles) (Figure 2A,B). Locusts were stored in polypropylene
bags or other locally available containers (Figure 2C,D). Each bag was weighed (Metis
electronic scale with a capacity of 100 kg). The people who consumed the locusts were
interviewed about their methods of preparation and cooking, the quantity they consumed
each day, and the quality of their taste. To control the locusts locally, we carried out four
field trips into their type-locality and other surrounding villages, after the arrival of each
of the swarms, to control the emergence of hoppers, the occurrence of hopper bands, and
the insects’ behavior.

Agronomy 2021,11, 455 3 of 8
Agronomy 2021, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 9
Figure 1. Locality surveyed to inform the local Thari populations about the benefits of locusts as a
source of protein.
Villagers collected locusts at night, by hand picking, in July–October 2019, using light
traps (torches or headlights of vehicles) (Figure 2A,B). Locusts were stored in polypropyl-
ene bags or other locally available containers (Figure 2C, D). Each bag was weighed (Metis
electronic scale with a capacity of 100 kg). The people who consumed the locusts were
interviewed about their methods of preparation and cooking, the quantity they consumed
each day, and the quality of their taste. To control the locusts locally, we carried out four
field trips into their type-locality and other surrounding villages, after the arrival of each
of the swarms, to control the emergence of hoppers, the occurrence of hopper bands, and
the insects’ behavior.
Figure 1.
Locality surveyed to inform the local Thari populations about the benefits of locusts as a
source of protein.
Agronomy 2021, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 4 of 9
Figure 2. Collecting desert locusts at night in a field of crops: (A) vehicle headlight used as a light
trap, (B) hand torch for collecting locusts and container for storage, (C) polypropylene bag for
locusts, (D) polypropylene bag containing locusts ready for delivery. Photos by Ahmed Ali
Samejo, Santosh Kumar, and Samiullah Soomro.
3. Results
Villagers said swarms of locusts arrived in this area of Pakistan after 22 years of re-
cession. Locusts began to damage all green vegetation, cash crops, and fodder. As a result,
people were motivated to collect and eat the locusts both to protect their crops and to
improve their diets. On 4 July 2019, a mature swarm of desert locusts landed in the vicinity
of Mahandre-Jo-Par village (type-locality) in the evening. Word travelled between villages
about the arrival of the swarm, spread over 5 km2. Residents went to that area at night
carrying torches and polypropylene bags for catching locusts. The people knew from local
tradition that locusts cannot be caught during the day, but are easily caught at night using
light traps. At night, locusts mostly roost on crops and wild shrubs, and some females dig
in soil with their ovipositor. For four consecutive nights, the villagers filled bags with lo-
custs. In those four days, around 1275 kilograms of locusts were collected (Table 1). After
collection, the bags were closed and brought back to the villagers’ homes. Most of the
locusts were eaten, although a few fled due to the disturbance. To prepare them for con-
sumption, the locusts were first put in boiling water (Figure 3A), then dried for a day
(Figure 3B). The dried locusts were then fried in various ways to make crisp, spicy, and
crunchy dishes (Figure 3C–F).
Table 1. Collection of desert locust by villagers after the arrival of the first swarm on 4 July 2019.
Villages Weight of desert locust collected (kg)
Figure 2.
Collecting desert locusts at night in a field of crops: (
A
) vehicle headlight used as a light
trap, (
B
) hand torch for collecting locusts and container for storage, (
C
) polypropylene bag for locusts,
(
D
) polypropylene bag containing locusts ready for delivery. Photos by Ahmed Ali Samejo, Santosh
Kumar, and Samiullah Soomro.
3. Results
Villagers said swarms of locusts arrived in this area of Pakistan after 22 years of
recession. Locusts began to damage all green vegetation, cash crops, and fodder. As a
result, people were motivated to collect and eat the locusts both to protect their crops and
to improve their diets. On 4 July 2019, a mature swarm of desert locusts landed in the
vicinity of Mahandre-Jo-Par village (type-locality) in the evening. Word travelled between

Agronomy 2021,11, 455 4 of 8
villages about the arrival of the swarm, spread over 5 km
2
. Residents went to that area
at night carrying torches and polypropylene bags for catching locusts. The people knew
from local tradition that locusts cannot be caught during the day, but are easily caught at
night using light traps. At night, locusts mostly roost on crops and wild shrubs, and some
females dig in soil with their ovipositor. For four consecutive nights, the villagers filled
bags with locusts. In those four days, around 1275 kilograms of locusts were collected
(Table 1). After collection, the bags were closed and brought back to the villagers’ homes.
Most of the locusts were eaten, although a few fled due to the disturbance. To prepare them
for consumption, the locusts were first put in boiling water (Figure 3A), then dried for a
day (Figure 3B). The dried locusts were then fried in various ways to make crisp, spicy, and
crunchy dishes (Figure 3C–F).
Table 1. Collection of desert locust by villagers after the arrival of the first swarm on 4 July 2019.
Villages Weight of Desert Locust Collected (kg)
1st Day 2nd Day 3rd Day 4th Day Total
Agrani 22 41 81 45 189
Mahendrani - 41 74 48 163
Jam-ji-Dhani 17 27 53 24 121
Saadan-j-Dhani 12 21 47 18 98
Jamal-ji-Dhani - 19 44 23 86
Senhrani 23 31 62 17 133
Ramlani 18 35 52 24 129
Mehlani - 25 66 26 117
Misryani - 20 51 27 98
Sekhario 17 33 67 24 141
Total 109 293 597 276 1275
Agronomy 2021, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 9
1st day 2nd day 3rd day 4th day Total
Agrani 22 41 81 45 189
Mahendrani - 41 74 48 163
Jam-ji-Dhani 17 27 53 24 121
Saadan-j-Dhani 12 21 47 18 98
Jamal-ji-Dhani - 19 44 23 86
Senhrani 23 31 62 17 133
Ramlani 18 35 52 24 129
Mehlani - 25 66 26 117
Misryani - 20 51 27 98
Sekhario 17 33 67 24 141
Total 109 293 597 276 1275
Figure 3. Various dishes based on desert locusts prepared by the Thari. (A) Locust boiling in wa-
ter, (B) locusts spread out on a bed for drying, (C) cooking of dried locusts, (D) locust cooked with
lemon, (E) “Biryani” (a typical dish of the Indian subcontinent) with locusts, (F) crispy locust
snacks. Photos by Santosh Kumar, Nawaz Ali Samejo, Muhammad Ibrahim Samejo, Saraj-ud-din
Samejo, and Samiullah Soomro.
Another huge mature swarm, covering “a large area” (villager estimate unfortu-
nately imprecise), arrived on 24 September 2019, moving westward. The swarm likely
originated from the adjacent breeding areas in Rajasthan, India. The villagers were more
Figure 3.
Various dishes based on desert locusts prepared by the Thari. (
A
) Locust boiling in water,
(
B
) locusts spread out on a bed for drying, (
C
) cooking of dried locusts, (
D
) locust cooked with
lemon, (
E
) “Biryani” (a typical dish of the Indian subcontinent) with locusts, (
F
) crispy locust snacks.
Photos by Santosh Kumar, Nawaz Ali Samejo, Muhammad Ibrahim Samejo, Saraj-ud-din Samejo,
and Samiullah Soomro.

Agronomy 2021,11, 455 5 of 8
Another huge mature swarm, covering “a large area” (villager estimate unfortunately
imprecise), arrived on 24 September 2019, moving westward. The swarm likely originated
from the adjacent breeding areas in Rajasthan, India. The villagers were more motivated to
collect these locusts, as they remembered the previous July swarm, and the preparation
and consumption of tasty dishes. The villagers formed groups to collect locusts in the
field, using vehicle headlights as a light trap. The desert locusts were often in pairs for
mating and were easily picked by hand. During this swarm’s time in the fields, the people
collected about 1758 kg of locusts over five consecutive nights (Table 2).
Table 2.
Collection of desert locusts by villagers after the arrival of the second swarm on 24 September 2019.
Villages Weight of Desert Locust Collected (kg)
1st Day 2nd Day 3rd Day 4th Day 5th Day Total
Agrani 26 61 53 59 19 218
Mahendrani 17 48 57 51 22 195
Jam-ji-Dhani 12 34 29 66 27 168
Saadan-j-Dhani 21 41 33 39 13 147
Jamal-ji-Dhani 15 46 29 33 - 123
Senhrani 27 53 34 57 23 194
Ramlani 31 37 52 47 18 185
Mehlani 25 42 58 39 28 192
Misryani 17 26 57 38 - 138
Sekhario 28 63 48 37 22 198
Total 219 451 450 466 172 1758
In early October 2019, desert locust hoppers emerged from the ground, where the
swarms had arrived earlier for laying. However, no emerging hoppers were observed
around the village of Mahandre-Jo-Par as most of the locusts have been collected and
eaten or had already migrated away. In areas where young hoppers emerged, they were
observed marching in bands and damaging moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia), a cash crop in
the Thar. In Mahandre-Jo-Par, out of 3620 ha cultivated with moth bean, only 4000 rupees
per hectare was lost. However, in the three surrounding villages (Khokhrapar, Laplo, and
Shekhro), where locusts had not been harvested, losses on the 5888 hectares cultivated with
moth bean totaled about 43,000 rupees/hectare. In the fields around the Mahandre-Jo-Par
village, the crops were hardly damaged since there were no hoppers there. Sometime later,
hopper bands came to these fields from other areas, but the farmers had already harvested
their crops. Thus, while the moth bean crop was completely destroyed in other parts of the
Thar region, in our study area losses were lower, likely as a result of locust collection by
the villagers.
4. Discussion
Our main observational study shows that entomophagy can, to a certain extent, be
locally effective in desert locust control. This method cannot prevent locust invasions,
but can mitigate the problems caused by locusts to allow the villagers to better cope with
the plague. Entomophagy has an important advantage over other control methods: it
reduces the number of locusts while providing a diet of better nutritional quality to the
local residents.
Collecting locusts had a strong local impact on the insects’ population in two important
ways: the method greatly reduced the locust population at the time of collection and also
reduced the next generation to almost nothing, thereby avoiding most of crop losses. Crop
losses continued to take place where no locusts were collected. Unfortunately, we cannot
determine the precise impacts of locust collection on the swarm because the characteristics
of the swarms were not noted, including their size and approximate density; depending
on these parameters, the collection efficiency could be more or less effective. When locust

Agronomy 2021,11, 455 6 of 8
swarms are very dense and large, the local villagers may be overwhelmed and their
collection efficiency may be lower, while the nutritional benefit remains the same.
Collection efficiency also depends on the maturity of the locust population. Collection
is less efficient and has a less significant impact on population density if the swarm is
immature, arrives during or at the end of the day, eats a large part of the available vegetation
and crops, and continues its migration the next day. If the swarm is mature, the locusts may
remain for several consecutive days and nights for female laying, before flying away. The
collection can then be more intense (as in our study), the reduction of the locust population
greater, and the impact on local dynamics and crop damage reduced.
Residents of various countries (i.e., Indonesia, M. Lecoq p.c.) have better ways to
collect locusts, such as using large nets carried by several people. Of course, the techniques
must be within the capacity of the local farmers. Selling locusts can be a significant
source of income for poor rural families, and farmers can be encouraged to collect locusts
to be processed into feed for poultry. During the most recent invasion in Pakistan’s
Punjab province, as part of a pilot project led by the Food Security Department, farmers
were encouraged to collect locusts and sell them to poultry feed businesses. In addition,
researchers from the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council collected dead locusts to make
bio-fertilizers for crops; locust-based fertilizers have advantageous N (9%) and P (7%)
content [28]. Locusts also can be mixed with other bio-waste to make compost [29].
Finally, we should not expect to control invasions by collecting locusts by hand, even
on a large scale. First, there is general agreement that it is impossible to collect enough
locusts to end an invasion; there are simply too many insects (a swarms spotted in Kenya
in January 2020 covered an area of 40 km by 60 km [
30
]). It is also impossible to prevent
an invasion as the locusts emerge from outbreak areas, which are most often located in
desertic and sparsely populated regions. At best, this collection method could be a useful
mitigation measure in the event of an upsurge/invasion that could not be controlled at
an earlier stage using preventative measures. The collection method also allows local
residents, in the absence of other control tools, to protect their own crops, and also to
compensate for possible nutritional deficiencies by eating the insects.
Eating swarming locusts is a widespread practice wherever plagues occur. Locusts
and grasshoppers have been eaten for centuries and, in some places, still are today. During
periods of increased locust activity, piles of dead locusts can be found in the market
places [
30
]. Locusts are rich in protein; about 62% of the dry weight of an adult desert locust
is proteins, 17% is fats, and the remainder is inorganic constituents [
31
]. Thus, entomophagy
may have a large positive nutritional impact, and it is an important practice in parts of
the desert locust habitat range, especially in certain regions of Pakistan. For a long time,
the people of the Thar desert region have faced shortages of food and water, making them
extremely vulnerable. Food shortages lead to severe malnutrition (especially to protein
deficiency), leading to high maternal mortality rates [
32
,
33
]. As an important source
of protein, the consumption of desert locusts can help prevent malnutrition. Therefore,
collection must, perhaps above all, be considered an interesting food source for poor and
undernourished rural populations.
However, using locusts as food has many potential risks [
34
]. Edible insects are
underestimated as a reservoir of human and animal parasites [
35
]. Using locusts as
food for humans or animals must consider health constraints, the health risk being not
only microbiological but also chemical [
36
]. Indeed, outbreaks are currently managed
using chemical insecticides [
37
]. As pesticides do not always kill the locusts immediately,
collected locusts may still contain traces of pesticides and be toxic. During an ongoing
locust upsurge in East Africa, the FAO [
30
] strongly advises against eating swarming
locusts (living or dead) because it is highly unlikely that the nutritional benefits will
outweigh the negative effects of the chemical residues of organophosphate, carbamate, or
pyrethroid insecticides [
38
,
39
]. The practice of entomophagy, if it is to go beyond its current
limits, should therefore be closely supervised by state agencies to avoid health risks and be
coordinated with pesticide applications.

Agronomy 2021,11, 455 7 of 8
5. Conclusions
The consumption of desert locusts could effectively prevent malnutrition and protein
deficiency and, to a certain extent, could also be an efficient mitigation measure to help
local human populations to better protect themselves against locust outbreaks and the
resulting crop damage. Collecting and consuming locusts should be encouraged wherever
outbreaks are observed, while remaining realistic about the real impact entomophagy has
on locust control. This practice should be coordinated with the local authorities to avoid the
consumption of insects treated with pesticides. Sensitization about entomophagy, its health
and crop protection benefit, as well as its constraints, is surely required as is a research
development on this subject in order to better assess the nutritional and economic benefits
in the long-term.
Author Contributions:
Conceptualization, A.A.S.; methodology, A.A.S. and R.S.; field surveys,
A.A.S., S.S., and S.K.; analysis and drafting, A.A.S., R.S., and S.S. All authors have read and agreed to
the published version of the manuscript.
Funding:
This study was partially funded by the Higher Education Commission Islamabad, Pakistan
(Project No. 6737 SINDH/NRPU/R & D/HEC).
Acknowledgments:
The authors are highly thankful to villagers of the village Mahandre-Jo-Par who
arranged an awareness program and helped in the collection of data in the field. The authors are also
grateful to Michel Lecoq (CIRAD, France), Koutaro Old Maeno (JIRCAS, Japan), and Dana Desonie
(The Science Writer, US) for their kind comments and corrections for improvement of the manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest:
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design
of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or
in the decision to publish the results.
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