Pakistan to draw anti-locust plan with other countries

Agriculture minister will connect with Indian, Iranian and Afghan counterparts via video conferencing

ISLAMABAD: The agriculture ministers of Pakistan, India, Iran and Afghanistan will connect via video-conferencing on March 11 to chalk out a strategy to deal with the worst locust invasion to hit the region in nearly three decades as swarms of the insects are decimating entire harvests in these countries.

Representatives of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will also participate in the meeting via a video link from Abu Dhabi.

It is feared that recent rains in different parts of Pakistan and other countries in the region would further exacerbate the problem.



The UN has attributed the explosive growth of locust populations to heavy rains and cyclones in the Arabian Peninsula last year.

The FAO has pledged to assist the Pakistani government in overcoming the crisis. Last month, the FAO and the national food security and research ministry signed a technical cooperation project agreement to develop a roadmap for locust control in the country.

Besides, China has also been helping Pakistan. A team of Chinese experts are working closely with their peers in Pakistan to make a comprehensive plan to control the locust problem that includes using a fungus to kill off the pests.

Pakistan has been using chemical pesticides to deal with the current locust plague and local experts hope that they can introduce China's biological control methods to the country before the autumn harvest.



China will dispatch the first batch of pesticides, sprayers and other supplies to Karachi on Monday (today) to assist the Pakistani authorities in controlling the locust invasion.

It includes 50,000 litres of pesticides and 14 air-powered high-efficiency remote sprayers, according to China Economic Net.

To assist in locust eradication in Pakistan, an expert group led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Grassland Management Department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Centre, China Agricultural University and Shandong Plant Protection Station has already visited Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab from February 23 to March 4.



The group previously stated that China had formulated a detailed assistance and training plan would send disaster prevention materials including pesticides, spraying vehicles and monitoring equipment to assist Pakistan.

According to the expert group, in the current large-scale outbreak of the locust disaster in Pakistan, the spraying of chemical pesticides and biological pesticides was more conducive to the emergency treatment of locust disasters.

The experts believe that the next four to six weeks will be a critical period for the eradication of locusts in Balochistan.

The Chinese officials have expressed the belief that with the joint efforts of both sides, China and Pakistan will win the two battles of the new coronavirus epidemic and the locust crisis

After the outbreak of the coronavirus outbreak, Pakistan immediately collected a batch of stock masks, protective clothing and gloves from public hospitals across the country and sent them to China on a military aircraft. (With additional input from APP)