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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [233v] (466/900)
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.
14
IP 1 " 1 . T".
I
Method 5(a)(i).—Dusting
r
Hand powder-guns* (cost about Rs. 40 each) of the knapsack type
are capable only of dealing with comparatively small areas (one to two
acres per day) and require suitable weather conditions to develop their
mayimiim efficiency. The insecticide is distributed in a blast of air, and
is carried by air currents on to the food plants to which it adheres if the
plants are moist. In hot dry weather they can only be used effectively
in the early morning or late evening and during night.
Aeroplanes.— In other countries both aeroplanes and power powder
distributors mounted on motors are successfully used for dusting large
areas with insecticidal powder. As the apparatus is not at present avail
able in India and experimental work is needed, details are not described
here.
Method 5(b).—Spraying
The application of stomach insecticides in a liquid medium has a minor
advantage in that the actual distribution of the insecticide within an area
is under direct control.
The main disadvantage in spraying is that water must be readily avail
able. It is also much more laborious than dusting.
With one knapsack sprayer one man can spray over one acre per day.
If large areas of grassland require to be sprayed, power machines on motor
vehicles should be used.
• Trenches
Method 6(a).—Plain trenches
The efficiency of plain trenches in preventing hoppers which have got
into them from getting out again depends upon the nature of the soil and
the care bestowed on the preparation of the trench. In some soils plain
trenches are very effective while in others they are practically useless.
The length, depth and breadth of the trenches will vary according to
the size of the swarm and the stage of development of the individuals. Dur- ^
ing the first and second stages a trench, one foot wide by one and a half feet W
deep, with occasional pits to contain the hoppers in the case of large swarms,
is adequate. • The width and depth have to be increased successively in the
later stages, until, in the fifth stage, a width of two and a half feet and a depth
of two feet constitute the minimum.
The
cross section
The shape revealed by cutting vertically through a land surface at right angles to the feature of interest.
of the trench should either be rectangular or the trench
should be wider at the bottom than at the top in which case the walls over
hang. With either form it is generally necessary to make the sides and ends
of the trench smooth by the use of a very broad khurpi. Particular care
must be given to the ends of the trenches as the hoppers accumulate there and
escape if any foothold is available ; deep and wide pits at the ends are useful.
# These can be bought in India.
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’ [233v] (466/900), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1544, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034852387.0x000043> [accessed 26 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