Drone technology could be the key to stopping locusts threatening food security, should the insects become a problem in Western Australia.
In recent months, locust infestations have emerged in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
While there has been a small build-up in New South Wales and Victoria, the likelihood of an outbreak in WA is low, however it is still possible depending on climate conditions over the next few months.
Research being conducted at Edith Cowan University (ECU) is looking into the different ways drones could be used to combat increasing numbers in Australia.
ECU agricultural technology researcher Leisa Armstrong said there had been some research efforts on how locust outbreaks could be monitored or controlled and their patterns of movement predicted using drone technology.
"Instead of having guys on the ground spotting for the locust, we can instead use drones to work out the build-up of the insects and the patterns they're going in," Dr Armstrong said.
"It's got the possibility to do a survey of the numbers of the locusts in the area, what the predicted patterns are of where they're going to fly next and take images of what the levels of crop destruction are."
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a swarm of about 40 million desert locusts can eat the same amount of food in one day as about 35,000 people.
Swarms can be as large as several hundred square kilometres, with as many as 80 million adults per square kilometre.
In Australia, locusts are generally controlled by aerial spraying of pesticides from light aircraft.
Drones are providing an innovative alternative to the more expensive use of light aircraft as they can be used to remotely sense areas, carry out pest surveillance and monitor crop growth.
Dr Armstrong said the idea was to put insecticides on the drone and try to spray locusts from the air.
"It acts as a supplementary approach to normal spraying that growers might do using boom sprays or misters," she said.
"The idea would be that one individual drone probably would not be able to cover the whole area, due to a limited amount of insecticide they'd be able to cover and a limited amount of time they can be in the air for.
"So the idea is to have a fleet of them which would be able to spray the locusts before they start to hatch."
Each State and Territory of Australia has been affected by plague locusts at some point in the past, however it is too early to know if there is likely to be an outbreak in the country this year.
"As the weather warms up, we will see how many locust eggs build up and that will depend on if it's warm and wet," Dr Armstrong said.
