You would think they would be more aware of the dangers [wikipedia.org] in trying to wipe out some species.
By April 1960, Chinese leaders changed their opinion due to the influence of ornithologist Tso-hsin Cheng who pointed out that sparrows ate a large number of insects, as well as grains. Rather than being increased, rice yields after the campaign were substantially decreased. Mao ordered the end of the campaign against sparrows, replacing them with bed bugs, as the extermination of sparrows upset the ecological balance, and insects destroyed crops as a result of the absence of natural predators. By this time, however, it was too late. With no sparrows to eat them, locust populations ballooned, swarming the country and compounding the ecological problems already caused by the Great Leap Forward
I honestly never thought about using drones this way, sort of like a mini crop duster. Very interesting.
~army worms can fly 100km with no wings which exposes them to dangerous chemicals
Anything else?
By April 1960, Chinese leaders changed their opinion due to the influence of ornithologist Tso-hsin Cheng who pointed out that sparrows ate a large number of insects, as well as grains. Rather than being increased, rice yields after the campaign were substantially decreased. Mao ordered the end of the campaign against sparrows, replacing them with bed bugs, as the extermination of sparrows upset the ecological balance, and insects destroyed crops as a result of the absence of natural predators. By this time, however, it was too late. With no sparrows to eat them, locust populations ballooned, swarming the country and compounding the ecological problems already caused by the Great Leap Forward
Um...ahem... you missed a part in TFS....
"The fall army worm, a crop-devouring pest, has spread from the Americas to Africa and Asia...", beginning of the second paragraph.
The bug is not a native species
The US has similar problems with Asian insects, we are losing entire tree species that are not evolved to deter some of the non-native species.