OT: Locusts descend on Russian fields; UN accused of planting locust eggs in Iraq

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Can things get any stranger?

Locusts descend on Russian fields

Thursday, 8 July 1999 14:25 (GMT)

(NOTE: updates stepashin comment, regional appeal) (UPI Focus) Locusts descend on Russian fields MOSCOW, July 8 (UPI) - Giant swarms of locusts, believed to have originated in northern Kazakhstan, have migrated to central Russia and central Siberia, destroying thousands of hectares of crops. Russian television today says the locusts, which have not been seen in the Novosibirsk region in 40 years, have completely devoured crops and all vegetation in several areas over the past week, causing extensive damage to the farms.

According to a local news agency, one woman committed suicide because the locusts had eaten her crops, her main source of income. Farm managers in the area have issued an appeal to the federal government to provide financing and send aircraft for an emergency fumigation operation to save endangered crops. Agricultural officials fear an even larger infestation of locusts next year if steps aren't taken to eradicate the insects now. The plague of insects is now affecting the central Samara region, on the River Volga. The locusts migrate great distances, covering as much as 50 km (31 miles) a day in search of food. Kazakhstan, a natural breeding ground for locusts, has curtailed its formerly extensive fumigating program because of financial difficulties. Russian agriculture officials say the unusually arid weather this spring and summer has helped produce vast clouds of locusts that are now attacking Russian crops. Russia expects another poor harvest of grain this year because of drought conditions in many parts of the country, but the plague of locusts, which has become the top news item in the past two days, threatens to destroy what is left of the crops. Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, meeting agricultural officials in Moscow today, admitted that the forecast of a grain harvest of 60 million tons is "lower than our minimum requirements." Stepashin said the grain shortage this year is likely to reach a level of 14 or 15 million tons, due to "unfavorable factors and conditions." Russia is already receiving a million tons of grain as aid from the United States.

==========

Accused UN Official Leaves Iraq

By AHMED SAMI Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A U.N. official accused of breeding locusts to destroy crops left the Iraqi capital today, bound for Jordan.

Iraq had demanded the expulsion of Ian Broughton of New Zealand, who worked for the United Nations as a clearer of land mines in northern Iraq.

The government accused Broughton of burying boxes of locust eggs near the Iranian border town of Khanaqin, about 110 miles northeast of the capital, Baghdad, in April.

The U.N.'s Humanitarian Coordinator in Baghdad, Hans von Sponeck, today denied that Broughton was involved in the alleged incident.

In a statement received in Cairo, Von Sponeck said the U.N. had investigated the Iraqi claim that Broughton buried boxes of locust eggs on April 8.

``The investigation carried out by the U.N. office in Iraq - including evidence from witnesses - indicates that neither Ian Broughton nor any other U.N.-related person was in the area identified by the Iraqi authorities on April 8, which suggests that this is a case of mistaken identity,'' the statement said.

U.N. officials declined to make any further comment on the case or Broughton's departure. Iraq produced no evidence that Broughton had planted locust eggs.

Broughton left a Baghdad hotel this morning in a white U.N. four-wheel drive vehicle with an unidentified colleague. The driver told reporters they were going to the Jordanian capital, Amman - a 12-hour drive from Baghdad. Broughton had arrived in the capital from northern Iraq on Wednesday night.

The official Iraqi News Agency reported his departure, saying he was being expelled for ``acts of sabotage ... aimed at severely harming agricultural crops.''

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry had summoned Von Sponeck on Tuesday and demanded Broughton's expulsion within 72 hours.

A ministry statement accused Broughton of a ``criminal act ... intended to severely harm the country's economy which is already suffering from the unjust sanctions,'' referring to the U.N. embargo imposed since Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in 1990.

The Iraqi News Agency quoted Culture and Information Minister Humam Abdel-Khaliq, now acting foreign minister, as saying Wednesday that the government was demanding the United Nations cut its ties to the British company Greenfield Consultants, which has the contract to clear land mines in northern Iraq.

The government has repeatedly expressed its unease with the clearing of mines in the Kurdish autonomous zone of northern Iraq. It apparently does not want the United Nations to clear mine fields along the border with Iran. Iraq fought a war with Iran from 1980 to 1988 and still accuses its eastern neighbor of infiltrating saboteurs across the border.

The U.N. de-mining project has a budget of $20 million a year. It is funded by the oil-for-food program under which Iraq is allowed to sell limited amounts of oil on condition that the revenue is spent on food and humanitarian services.

The last U.N. employee to be withdrawn from Iraq at the government's request was pilot Julian Munio, a Chilean citizen who was accused of espionage in October 1998.

-- a (a@a.a), July 08, 1999

Answers

The father of organic agriculture, Sir Albert Howard asserted (and Proved) that healthy plants grown in composted manures are not bothered by insect attack. 30 years after Howard's death infrared photography was able to distinguish weakened crops by the color. Locusts were found to fly 1500 miles ignoring healthy vegetation and descending to devour unhealthy crops. In my 29 years in horticulture I have seen over and over again that healthy soil means healthy crops...and you can't make soil healthy with synthetic fertilizers. So compost your manures; pile your leaves separately to make leaf mold; and grow nutritious food.

-- Sand Mueller (smueller@azalea.net), July 09, 1999.

"Locusts a growing threat to Kazakhstan, neighbours"

http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a0787LBY927reulb- 19990708&qt=locust*&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), July 09, 1999.


"UN denies New Zealander buried locust eggs in Iraq"

http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a3995LBY618reulb- 19990708&qt=locust*&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), July 09, 1999.


Sand,

I rarely regard the Bible as a definitive reference, but on the subject of plagues of locusts under traditional organic farming techniques it's probably as reliable as any other.

As for Saddam, well, he would say that wouldn't he. Locusts are indigenous to his country and a few extra eggs wouldn't make any difference. AFAIK nobody knows what makes locusts multiply into a plague, lemming-like, in some years but not in most others. If we did, we'd probably be able to stop them.

-- Nigel Arnot (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), July 09, 1999.


Nigel, being from UK I assume you have heard of Sir Albert. I believe he is more accurate than the bible. Interestingly, and largely ignored by historians, the progressive collapse of the ancient civilizations from the Sumerians, to the Phoenecians, to the Greeks, Romans, and even the Spanish was not caused by bad government or homosexuals but by deforestation, erosion, and crop failures. After each civ's land was ruined they went to war to find fertile land. USA is on its way out too...most of the topsoil gone. Historians; economists they are city folks DGI's when it comes to food and civilization.

-- Sand Mueller (smueller@azalea.net), July 09, 1999.


Sand Mueller,

"I believe he is more accurate than the bible."

"USA is on its way out too...most of the topsoil gone."

Bet you could not find the references to the USA in the Bible. And I am not talking about the Jer-USA-lem thing. References. Plain to me.

-- freeman (freeman@cali.com), July 09, 1999.


LM, Thanks for link. Copied and filed.

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), July 09, 1999.

Sand, thanks for mentioning one of my favorite and first proponents of organic gardening, Sir Albert Howard. He was one of the first people I read on organic gardening and the one that made the most sense. Maybe it was because my Dad had followed his way of composting. He composted everything, even some pornographic paperbacks our neighbor, a teacher, confiscated and was throwing in the trash. My dad put them in the bottom of the compost pile. Later when it heated up too much and made a whistling noise, he claimed it was from the addition of the porno books.

I don't remember reading a thing about composting in the Bible. The facts about starved crops and pests have been proved. I've proved them on my own. We garden, raising both vegetables, berries, fruit and flowers. We never use pesticides of any kind, nor did my dad. We seldom if ever have bugs, except for the occasional horn worm or short-lived infestation of white flies. We have lots of butterflies and birds and the birds consider our garden their domain and work tireless ly eating insects.

We also provide nesting boxes for both birds and bats, therefore making sure we have crews working on the bugs night and day. And we've provided year around water and havens for toads and other critters that make the garden their home. Spiders are a welcome addition, and eat thousands of insects. Compost makes this all possible.

-- gilda (jess @listbot.com), July 10, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ