Climate Adaptation
Army of 100,000 Chinese Ducks Ready to Fight Locust Swarms
- The birds are ‘biological weapons,’ Chinese researcher said
- Pakistan is facing its worst locust outbreak in decades
This article is for subscribers only.
Chinese duck platoons are waiting to be deployed to neighboring Pakistan to fight a swarm of crop-eating pests that threaten regional food security.
At least 100,000 ducks are expected to be sent to Pakistan as early as the second half of this year to combat a desert locust outbreak, according to Lu Lizhi, a senior researcher with the Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The ducks are “biological weapons” and can be more effective than pesticide, said Lu, who’s in charge of the project that’s been organized by his academy in tandem with a university in Pakistan.