摘要：The locust plague of 1986-89, the first in many years, was the cause of serious concern and substantialdonor activity. While 25.9 million hectares were sprayed with chemical pesticides at a cost of $275million (US Congress 1990) dissatisfaction with the heavy and continuing use of chemical pesticides wasgrowing (Berger and Associates 1991). These chemicals are not without danger to human health, and dohave an impact on the environment, in particular the flora and fauna of the fragile Sahelian environment(FAO 1993). A consortium of donors therefore agreed to finance LUBILOSA (Lutte Biologique contre lesLocusts et Sauteriaux), a research program initiated in 1989. A biopesticide was developed based on thespores of a fungus, Metarhizium flavoviride, a natural pathogen of locusts, currently produced at theInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Benin. The fungus is a virulent endogenous pathogenand in field tests it controls over 85% of the locusts and grasshoppers after two weeks, without any harmto non-target organisms.
