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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [229v] (458/900)
The record is made up of 1 file (448 folios). It was created in 31 Aug 1942-18 May 1943. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
I
4
r
greedily eat certain baits, e.g. moist bran ; to this 2 per cent, of the insecti
cide is added which is sufficient to kill the locusts. Details are given in the
Appendix. The only risk in the wide distribution of this insecticide is that
it may not be kept with proper care and may be mistaken for a harmless
substance. It is recommended, therefore, that it should be coloured with
some suitable dye and its issue, except as a prepared bait, limited to res
ponsible officials. The preparation of the baits should be carried on under
official supervision (Method 4, Appendix).
(6) Dusting or spraying .—Sodium fluosilicate is also suitable for direct
application to crops or wild vegetation where other methods may not be
feasible. This method would only be used by a trained man who could be
trusted both to supervise the apparatus and control the operations and
supply of insecticide. (See Method 5, Appendix.)
Mechanical Methods. —The principal mechanical method of dealing
with moving bands of hoppers is to use trenches into which the bands of
hoppers are driven. [See Method 6 (a), Appendix.] In the initial stages
and on favourable soil, trenches are sufficient—but their efficiency is greatly
increased by the use of side screens to guide the bands and prevent them
breaking away. Where it is found in practice that plain trenches do not
retain the hoppers, a six-inch strip of shiny-surfaced oil-cloth can be affixed
to the walls of the trench. This method of reinforcing trenches has been
proved to prevent the hoppers from leaving the trenches. [See Method
6 (6), Appendix.]
Canvas traps —Where the nature of the ground precludes trench digg
ing, canvas traps can be used, as also metal sheet barriers.
Water. —Pools, ditches containing water, and old kachcha wells may
be utilized (where available) in lieu of trenches. Oil is usually required to
kill locusts driven on to water.
Side-screens. —These can be prepared from lengths of any cloth, pro
vided a six-inch strip of oil-cloth is attached along its length near the upper
edge. The screens are suspended from upright iron rods, sharpened at the
lower end and bent into a hook at the upper. (See Method 7, Appendix.)
r
Control Measures—General
r
*
(
Biological methods.—(1) Birds wffiich eat locusts, e.g. mynahs, and
starlings (Punjabi Tilliar), should be protected. Other biological methods
which have been suggested, e.g. bacterial and fungal diseases do not so far
offer any practical solution.
2. When locusts attack canal-irrigated areas it has been found advantage
ous for all canals to run at full supply.
6
About this item
- Content
Correspondence, reports and other papers relating to efforts, undertaken by representatives of the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit (MEALU), to control desert locusts (first reported in western India in August 1942 (f 3)) along the Arab coast between Bahrain and Oman. The principal correspondents include: the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Bahrain (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield); the Chief Locust Officer (Reginald Charles Maxwell-Darling) and Locust Officer (Leslie Desmond Edward Foster Vesey-Fitzgerald) of MEALU, who arrived in Bahrain to carry out their work in October 1942; the Defence Officer for the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel H T Hewitt); representatives of the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC); and representatives of the Bahrain shipping agent Gray, Mackenzie & Company.
The file includes:
- reports from Maxwell-Darling and Vesey-Fitzgerald, as well as from numerous other British officials from across the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region, including the British Minister at Tehran, Sir Reader William Bullard, on locust observations. The observations include estimations of the size of swarms, movement and direction of insects, age and colour of animals;
- correspondence relating to arrangements for the shipment of locust poison bait from the Sudan Government in Khartoum, to Bahrain;
- correspondence relating to the arrangements of facilities for the MEALU team on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , chiefly arrangements for suitable vehicles (arranged with the assistance of CASOC and the Defence Officer for the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ), experienced drivers and motor mechanics, finances, and rations;
- papers issued by MEALU, including instructions on reporting locust swarms (ff 136-137), and notes on locust campaigns in sparsely inhabited countries (ff 194-195, ff 385-386);
- a copy of a booklet entitled Methods of Locust Control , produced by the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research and published by the Government of India Press, Calcutta [Kolkota], 1941 (ff 226-236);
- a reprint of an academic journal article entitled Some results of studies of the Desert Locust (Schistocerca Gregaria, Forsk.) in India , by Rao Bahadur Y Ramchandra Rao (ff 266-278). The article is a reprint from the Bulletin of Entomological Research , volume 33, part 3, published December 1942;
- some papers relating to anti-locust activities in southern Iran.
The file contains a single letter in Arabic, a letter to the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. from the Ruler of Qatar, Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī (f 334).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (448 folios)
- Arrangement
The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 424-449) mirror the chronological arrangement.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 450; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-423; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [229v] (458/900), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1544, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034852387.0x00003b> [accessed 12 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/1544
- Title
- ‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’
- Pages
- 226r:236v
- Author
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- Copyright
- ©Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- Usage terms
- Creative Commons Non-Commercial Licence