SCIENTISTS have successfully tested a natural insecticide against grasshoppers and locusts in Niger. The non-chemical insecticide, called Green Muscle, has no secondary effect on humans or animals, and kills only locusts and grasshoppers – longtime pests for farmers in Africa and elsewhere. It can be applied just once a season, and costs only one third of the price of chemical pesticides, which must be applied three times per season. The insecticide, developed by the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, uses a naturally-occurring fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae, which kills locusts and grasshoppers in four to ten days. – AFP