A means to fight locust invasions ecologically has just been developed in Senegal. The prototype of the “locust harvester” was presented on October 17th, 2020 in the capital Dakar during a virtual conference.
Senegalese researcher Sanoussy Diakité has just presented his new machine, called the "locust harvester". This invention helps farmers to fight against locusts by sucking in the insects in flight. The inventor talks about an ecological solution as opposed to chemicals.
“The harvester catches locusts on the fly by suction through a channel rotating around its axis and possibly adjustable in height, and crushes them and delivers them by spraying them into a remarkable storage bin located in front of the delivery channel,” explains the inventor, Professor Sanoussy Diakité, former Director General of Senegal’s National Office for Vocational Training (ONFP). According to his estimates, the machine can thus suck up almost 960,000 locusts per hour while preserving biodiversity and the soil.
“The idea of inventing this locust harvester is to offer a solution that is not harmful to crops and is more effective than the pesticides used to control locust pests,” the researcher told.
