Centre devises a national action plan for locust control

Sindh chief secretary says provincial govt willing to provide all available support

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah has called upon all stakeholders to work together to control the locust infestation in crops in Sindh. Chairing a meeting at the Sindh Secretariat on locust control on Monday, the chief secretary said that the Sindh government is ready to provide all resources - manpower, funds, vehicles, pesticides and available support - for the eradication of locusts. Around 50 thousand litres of pesticides have also been purchased, he said.

Federal Food Secretary Muhammad Hashim Popalzai presented the National Action Plan Desert Locust Surveillance and Control 2020 during the meeting. According to Popalzai, the emergency situation arose due to the unforeseen number of locusts present in Sindh and Balochistan. He informed the meeting that the food ministry would recommend the federal cabinet to impose a national emergency with regards to locusts.

The meeting was told that the national action plan for locusts would begin on January 1 (tomorrow) in Balochistan. It would be launched in various districts and from January to June 2020, 30 camps comprising technical staff of the federal plant protection department and officials of the provincial agriculture department and the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) would be established. The director-general of the plant protection department said that 100,000 litres of the ultra-low volume (ULV) pesticides would be sprayed via airplanes in Balochistan. He added that 30 similar camps would be established in Sindh from July 2020 to December 2020 and 180,000 litres of ULV pesticides would be sprayed in Sindh via airplanes while 20 such camps would be established in Punjab as well.

Locust attacks to be more severe in coming years

MNA Nawab Yousuf Talpur and deputy commissioners pointed out that the plant protection department was asked to start the control operation in Nara desert, Sindh, and although the department initiated the control operation, it could not take off properly due to financial and other constraints. The chief secretary directed the deputy commissioners and agriculture director-general to continue monitoring the operation against locusts in desert areas. He directed them to develop coordination between the district administrations, the agriculture department and the federal plant protection department so that the work is done in minimum time. Besides, he directed the deputy commissioners to survey the damage caused by locusts to standing crops.

The meeting was informed that the plant protection department has managed to control locusts in 233,775 hectares but could not spray in the areas bordering India and Iran due to security reasons. At this, Popalzai said that the defence ministry would be contacted to arrange to spray in the areas near the border.

The chief secretary said that a minimum of 10 airplanes must be used under the national action plan for locust control, said Shah. Popalzai assured that sufficient funds had been allocated by the Centre in this regard and all available resources would be utilised. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2019.