{"id":2512,"date":"2020-02-28T11:06:11","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T11:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geek.com\/featured\/-1819486\/"},"modified":"2020-02-28T11:06:11","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T11:06:11","slug":"china-is-not-sending-ducks-to-eat-pakistans-locusts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2020\/02\/28\/china-is-not-sending-ducks-to-eat-pakistans-locusts\/","title":{"rendered":"China Is Not Sending Ducks to Eat Pakistan\u2019s Locusts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ugandan farmers are worried about the locusts spreading (via Edward Echwalu\/Guardian)<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

No, China is not sending an army of ducks to defeat Pakistan’s locusts.<\/span><\/p>\n

A report by the Ningbo Evening News<\/a>\u2014later picked up and distributed by the Associated Press\u2014suggested 100,000 waterfowl would be sent from Zhejiang province to Pakistan to help combat the locust swarms.<\/span><\/p>\n

After all, China deployed ducks (whose natural diet includes insects) to fight a similar infestation in the Xinjiang region 20 years ago, with purported effectiveness, according to<\/a> <\/span>The Guardian<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

So who’s to say it wouldn’t work again?<\/span><\/p>\n

China Agricultural University professor Zhang Long, that’s who.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Ducks rely on water, but in Pakistan’s desert areas, the temperature is very high,” Zhang, one of a delegation of experts, said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, he advised the use of chemical or biological pesticides.<\/span><\/p>\n

The original Ningbo Evening News report quoted Lu Lizhi, a researcher from the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Agricultural Technology, who claimed ducks are cheaper and less environmentally damaging than pesticides.<\/span><\/p>\n

They’re also more effective than chickens, apparently.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Ducks like to stay in a group, so they’re easier to manage than chickens,” Lu said, adding that the freshwater birds can eat more than 200 locusts per day, compared to a measly 70 for poultry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Billions of desert locusts\u2014appearing in numbers not seen for decades\u2014have already caused extensive damage<\/a> in Africa and India; Pakistan declared a national emergency<\/a> earlier this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Swarms of the short-horned grasshoppers<\/a> can fly up to 90 miles a day with the wind and devour enough food for 35,000 people daily.<\/span><\/p>\n

The AP has updated its story<\/a>, amended to note that “questions were raised” about the original Chinese report. But respected outlets like <\/span>Time<\/span><\/i><\/a>, Bloomberg<\/a>, and the BBC<\/a> (as of press time) are still indicating that a massive duck army is on its way to South Asia.<\/span><\/p>\n

More on Geek.com:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n