Drone-as-a-Service (DAAS) provider Garuda Aerospace will soon start spraying anti-locust pesticide in several parts of Uttar Pradesh, including Noida near Delhi, said a top company official.<br /><br />"We have got the order to deploy five drones for anti-locust operations from <keyword id="9479061" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="banda-university-of-agriculture-technology">Banda University of Agriculture &amp; Technology</keyword>, Uttar Pradesh. We will be sending 10 pilots for operating the drones. The mandate is to deploy the drones for a total of 50 hours at the locations specified by the University," Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Managing Director of city-based Garuda Aerospace, told IANS.<br /><br />He said the company has already deployed its drones in Rajasthan in <keyword id="9446117" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="locust-control-operations">locust control operations</keyword>.<br /><br />"This is the first time drones are being used in locust control measures in India. It is a new case scenario," Jayaprakash said.<br /><br />According to him, there are two methods of spraying the pesticide -- one by flying above the swarm of locust and spraying on them and the other is to spray the pesticide beforehand on the areas where the locusts are expected to land.<br /><br />He said the state government agencies predict the flight path of the locust and give us one/two days notices on the location where the drones are to be used. Sometimes the notice is very short.<br /><br />Jayaprakash said the locust hit percentage is about 70 per cent as per the state government officials.<br /><br />"Unlike bees that attack an adversary, locusts swarm does not attack drones. Perhaps they see it as a big bird, their enemy and avoid. Their main purpose is to eat, procreate and fly," Jayaprakash said.<br /><br />According to him, the Banda University order will be executed in three/four days as the total 50 hours of flying can be completed by the five drones in that time.<br /><br />"The five drones will be flown by air on Monday," he added.<br /><br />Garuda Aerospace has been carrying out drone based anti-coronavirus sanitation orders from several municipal corporations and smart cities like <keyword id="6357203" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Varanasi">Varanasi</keyword>, Rourkela, Raipur, Chennai and Hyderabad.<br /><br />"While the government contracts for anti-coronavirus sanitation orders have been completed, the corporate sector has started using our services. And now the orders are for locust control operations," Jayaprakash added.<br /><br />According to him, the Covid-19 pandemic and locust attack has increased the focus on drones and their use.<br /><br />Apart from spraying anti-coronavirus disinfectants, drones were used by police in Tamil Nadu to monitor the lockdown violators.<br /><br />Jayaprakash said Garuda Aerospace has manufactured and serviced drones for several government departments in Tamil Nadu, like forests, electricity, police, mining, agriculture, Indian Coast Guard and others.<br /><br />"Already drones are being used for spraying pesticides, weedicides and liquid fertiliser on farms and is also used for monitoring of pipelines and surveillance and now for locust control operations," Leo Peter Charles, Managing Director, Jane Aerospace Private Ltd told IANS.<br /><br />Jane Aerospace is into consulting, marketing, sales and provision of skilled manpower support for drone operating companies.<br /><br />Agreeing with Jayaprakash, Charles said there will be more interest on drones from different agencies.<br /><br />"The challenge for the drone makers is importing critical components from China given the current border tussle," Charles said.<br /><br />Jayaprakash said there are other markets wherefrom the critical components can be imported and China is not the sole market place. The only advantage China offers is the price, but there is also the issue of quality.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has set up a nine member working group to suggest suitable insurance cover for drones as their numbers are on the rise.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-records-biggest-single-day-spike-of-19906-covid-19-cases-tally-reaches-528859/articleshow/76670166.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">A record single-day surge of 19,906 COVID-19 cases on Sunday on June 28 in India</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/locust-attacks-in-up-jhansi-chitrakoot-prayagraj-pratapgarh-bhadohi-azamgarh-and-ambedkar-nagar/articleshow/76669556.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"><strong>Swarms of locusts reach Uttar Pradesh, several districts put on alert</strong></a><br />

Garuda Aerospace to deploy drones in Uttar Pradesh to help control locust

<ul><li>The spokesperson for the <keyword id="6374106" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ministry-of-external-affairs">Ministry of External Affairs</keyword> (MEA), <keyword id="916281" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anurag-Srivastava">Anurag Srivastava</keyword> announced that India has already asked Pakistan to open channels of communication to address the growing desert locust problem in India — but they are yet to respond. </li><li>Hindustan Pesticides Limited is in the process of producing 20 thousand litres of malathion pesticide to address the problem that now plagues at least five Indian states.</li><li>Srivastava said that malathion has proven to be an effective deterrent against desert locusts in the past.</li></ul>Locusts swarms are causing devastation to India’s agriculture and there is silence on the Pakistan side of things. “We are yet to receive a response from Pakistan,” said the spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Anurag Srivastava.<br /><br />During a press conference last night, he disclosed that India and Pakistan have a channel of communication — at the level of locust officials — to address the issue in annual meetings. Normally, these meetings happen in the month of June. “In view of the alarming locust problem this year, we have suggested that this mechanism be activated and coordinated control operations be undertaken,” he said. However, Pakistan has not engaged on the issue yet. <br /><br />Annual locust swarms normally stay centred around the state of Rajasthan. This time around the problem has escalated to other states as well — including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Officials now fear that India’s national capital, New Delhi, may also be under threat. <br /><br /><strong>Hindustan Pesticides Limited is producing 20 thousand litres of pesticide<br /></strong>“We are in the process of supply 20 thousand litres of malathion pesticide to run for these desert locust operations,” said Srivastava. The pesticide is manufactured by Hindustan Pesticides Limited and has been found “very effective” in controlling desert locusts, according to him. <br /><br />In low levels, the use of malathion is not harmful to humans. However, high amounts of pesticide for extended periods of time in the air, water or even the food can cause difficulty breathing, chest tightness, vomiting, cramps and other undesirable effects, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (<a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=520&amp;tid=92">ATSDR</a>).<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/pictures-of-locust-attacks-in-jaipur-rajasthan-madhya-pradesh-uttar-pradesh/articleshow/76032310.cms">Locust attacks may come to New Delhi — these 15 pictures show how they have already wreaked havoc in other parts of India</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/locust-swarms-devour-fields-of-crops-in-a-single-day-that-would-feed-35000-people-and-covid-19-threatens-to-make-the-pest-problem-even-worse/articleshow/75831656.cms">Locust swarms devour fields of crops in a single day that would feed 35,000 people — and COVID-19 threatens to make the pest problem even worse</a><br /></strong><br />

Locust swarms are turning into a diplomatic issue between India and Pakistan

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/577d34984321f16c018b642d-2400/cyborg locust.jpg" alt="cyborg locust.JPG" data-mce-source="Barani Raman/Washington University" data-mce-caption="Professor Raman and his research team are biomechanically engineering locusts to detect explosives." data-link="http://labs.seas.wustl.edu/bme/raman/barani.html" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://labs.seas.wustl.edu/bme/raman/barani.html">Barani Raman/Washington University</a></span></p><p class="caption">Professor Raman and his research team are biomechanically engineering locusts to detect explosives.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis hope that in the future, cyborg locusts could play an important role in <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Defense">defense</keyword> in national security.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="http://labs.seas.wustl.edu/bme/raman/barani.html">Baranidharan Raman</a>, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and his team are actually biologically engineering locusts to be able to detect the scent of explosives and let us know. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The project is being done under a 3-year grant funded by the Office of Naval Research.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because locusts detect smells through their antennae, the</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span> researchers will <a href="http://www.techtimes.com/articles/168440/20160706/engineers-working-on-cyborg-locusts-that-can-sniff-out-explosives.htm">implant electrodes into the locusts' brains</a> to read the electrical activity passing through their antennae. To transmit this electrical activity data, e</span></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span>ach insect will be equipped with a tiny backpack that acts as a transmitter. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span>The scientists are also experimenting with adding silk to the locusts' wings to convert light into heat. This would allow the operators to control the flight of the insects, effectively turning them into little remote-controlled drones. </span></span></p><h2><strong>Why locusts?</strong></h2><p>Nature still has the upper hand over technology when it comes to detecting smells. </p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Biological olfactory systems are still the gold standard for chemical sensing - think sniffer dogs," Raman told Business Insider. "The idea here is to use a simpler biological system, hence, the choice of insects for this study."</span></p><p><span>Raman's team previously had been working to understand the insect's sense of smell when they discovered that locusts can be trained to detect specific scents, even when there are other distracting smells around them. </span></p><p>The size of locusts also part of the reason they were chosen. <span style="font-weight: 400;">"These insects are an engineering marvel, as they have so much functionality packaged into portable, miniaturized sizes," Raman said. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And unlike some other insects, locusts can survive this type of procedure.  </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"They are sturdy and robust," he explained. "[They are] one of the few insect species that can survive the surgery to implant electrodes in their brain."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Raman said his team hopes to reach the initial prototype testing phase with their cyborg locusts in 1-2 years. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">So it will still be a while before we find out if these creatures can be integrated into the future of this country's defense. </span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-greek-eratosthenes-calculated-earth-circumference-2016-6">This incredibly accurate science experiment was centuries ahead of its time</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="92djVoNDE6Efjmomp7oN1cKWaf4QldXh" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '92djVoNDE6Efjmomp7oN1cKWaf4QldXh',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

In the future, locusts could possibly sniff out explosives

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider went inside the world's largest fly farm harvesting larvae as a sustainable protein source.</li><li><keyword id="12897102" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insect-protein" source="Orion">Insect protein</keyword> is becoming increasingly popular in animal feed, replacing soya or fishmeal.</li></ul><p>An insect farm might conjure images of fields, barns, and muddy boots, not a fully automated, high-tech facility in a commercial warehouse on an industrial estate.</p><p>Only the name, "Protix," gives away the nature of this facility in the town of Bergen op Zoom in the south of the Netherlands, where the insect company has operated since 2019.</p><p>This 15,000-square-meter warehouse is the world's largest black soldier fly farm. Demand for edible insects — and facilities like these — is on the rise.</p><p>At the moment, around 80% of Protix's production is used for pet food, with the rest used for aquafeed and poultry feed. </p><p>This is set to change as fish, poultry, and pig farmers seek alternative sources of protein to fishmeal and soy. Insect protein in poultry and pig feed was approved last year by the EU, which also greenlighted house cricket, yellow mealworm, and migratory locusts for human consumption.</p><p>Protix is preparing to announce 10 new locations as it expands in Europe and North America.</p><p>Its facilities are the culmination of a decade of intense R&amp;D and the conviction that insect protein could improve the environmental footprint of our food.</p><p>This plant has produced 15,000 tonnes of live larvae per year for the last two years; that's 10,000 tonnes of protein per hectare per year. Soy, in comparison, produces just <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-010-0108-x/figures/10">one tonne of protein per hectare per year</a>.</p><p>This is part nature, part nurture. Nature provided the black soldier fly, a champion bio converter. Protix has nurtured the technology to farm it, which it has spent a decade perfecting. </p><p>The first thing you notice as you walk in — and the only giveaway that this facility is indeed a farm — is the smell that comes from the insects' feed, which reminded me of the odor of a hamster cage.</p><p>The plant is split into sections that deal with different stages of the process, but its beating heart is the vertical farm.</p><p>This is where the larvae live, in crates stacked almost four meters high and more than 16 meters deep in dedicated storage units. The temperature is kept at a balmy 30-degrees Celsius. </p><div type="image" title="Vertical stacks of crates alongside one side of a long indoor corridor" height="3024" width="4032" msid="88739361" hostid="261"></div><p>There are three such storage areas, arranged around a central conveyor system where feeding and harvesting are done. Technicians control every step of the process through a central console. Everything here is bespoke, from the shape of the crate to the proprietary software.</p><p>"You can't buy anything off the shelf," Kees Aarts, Protix's founder and CEO, told me as we toured the facility.</p><div type="image" title="two men and a woman sitting at bank of computers in a factory" height="3024" width="4032" msid="88739363" hostid="261"></div><p>The larvae are fed by-products from the food and drink industry, such as potato waste from a French fry factory or waste grain.</p><p>Feed ingredients are delivered daily and stored in silos at the back of the plant. They are then mixed and turned into a special puree in giant mixers.</p><div type="image" title="Large steel containers with a ladder against them containing animal feed" height="3024" width="4032" msid="88739367" hostid="261"></div><p>The larvae are fed every couple of days: The stacker crane pulls out entire columns of crates, which are sent round the conveyor system to be filled with feed and then taken back to the vertical storage area. </p><div type="image" title="Large green crates with wires attached on a conveyor belt" height="5292" width="8183" msid="88739370" hostid="261"></div><p>Larvae are harvested in just six to eight days. One percent of the larvae are left to pupate into adult flies and used for breeding, which is done in a special chamber, out of bounds to visitors.</p><div type="image" title="Insect larvae on a transparent plate, held by a blue gloved hand" height="3024" width="4032" msid="88739372" hostid="261"></div><p>For harvesting, crates are brought back to the central conveyor system and tipped into a giant sieve, where the larvae are separated from the leftover feed before being washed.</p><p>The larvae are then sent to be processed in an adjoining room. Protix's main products are a protein meal and an oil, which must be separated through a centrifuge. The protein is then packaged into bulk bags and the oil in container tanks. </p><div type="image" title="Woman in face mask holds a protein meal produced from insects" height="2274" width="3024" msid="88739376" hostid="261"></div><p>"It's like having the seed company, the farmer, the miller, and the packaging company all under one roof to produce a protein meal," Aarts said.</p>

Look inside this high-tech farm growing fly larvae for protein, as demand for insects surges across the world

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58ec10178af57801018b78de-800/undefined" alt="FILE PHOTO: The Russian Navy's frigate Admiral Grigorovich sails in the Bosphorus on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, November 4, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo " data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="FILE PHOTO: The Russian Navy's frigate Admiral Grigorovich sails in the Bosphorus on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">FILE PHOTO: The Russian Navy's frigate Admiral Grigorovich sails in the Bosphorus on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Russia sent two corvettes, an oiler, and a tug boat to the Eastern Mediterranean off the coast of Syria days after two US Navy ships fired 59 cruise missiles at an airfield controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a <a href="https://news.usni.org/2017/04/10/russia-sends-warships-toward-syria-following-u-s-tomahawk-strikes" target="_blank">defense official told the US Naval Institute</a>.</p><p>The ships should reach the area within the next several days. </p><p>Tensions between the US and Russia have peaked since the US struck Russia's stalwart ally, Assad, over what the US believes was a chemical weapons attack <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-syria-assad-chemical-weapons-attack-2017-4" target="_blank">orchestrated by Syrian and Russian forces</a>.</p><p>Russia has warned of "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-warns-of-extremely-serious-consequences-for-us-strike-on-syria-2017-4" target="_blank">extremely serious</a>" consequences for the US strike and reportedly <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-air-agreement-syriaus-missile-strike-assad-2017-4" target="_blank">suspended key military agreements</a> with the US that heighten the risk of war.</p><p>The Russian ships will join the Admiral Grigorovich, which was the first Russian ship to respond after the strike. The Russian ships field very long range land attack cruise missiles, which Russian forces debuted from the Caspian Sea against targets in Syria in 2015. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58e755a5dd089539258b4b69-1200" alt="U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) conducts strike operations while in the Mediterranean Sea which U.S. Defense Department said was a part of cruise missile strike against Syria on April 7, 2017." data-mce-source="Ford Williams/Courtesy U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS" data-mce-caption="U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) conducts strike operations while in the Mediterranean Sea which U.S. Defense Department said was a part of cruise missile strike against Syria on April 7, 2017."><p class="source"><span>Ford Williams/Courtesy U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS</span></p><p class="caption">U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) conducts strike operations while in the Mediterranean Sea which U.S. Defense Department said was a part of cruise missile strike against Syria on April 7, 2017.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Navy Admiral Michelle Howard, who heads NATO's Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-russian-naval-activity-in-europe-exceeds-cold-war-levels-us-admiral-2017-4" target="_blank">recently told Reuters</a> that Russia's worldwide naval activity now exceeds Cold-war levels.</p><p>"They're a global navy," Howard said of the activity and potency of Russia's military ships. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-navy-locust-launcher-fire-drones-2017-4">Watch the Navy's LOCUST launcher fire a swarm of drones</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="JnZjJuYTE6KvFQYqxm28-RRVK1MsjYRt" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'JnZjJuYTE6KvFQYqxm28-RRVK1MsjYRt',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "locust control operations" and got 5 results

Garuda Aerospace to deploy drones in Uttar Pradesh to help control locust

IANS

Locust swarms are turning into a diplomatic issue between India and Pakistan

Prabhjote Gill

In the future, locusts could possibly sniff out explosives

Molly Sequin

Look inside this high-tech farm growing fly larvae for protein, as demand for insects surges across the world

Emilile Filou

Russia sends 2 additional warships to Syria amid tensions over US cruise missile strike

Alex Lockie