K-P chalks out strategy to battle locusts

Pesticides sprayed on 25,833 acres of land in 15 districts

PESHAWAR: After crops in multiple districts were ravaged by locusts, the provincial government on Monday said that it has prepared an inclusive strategy for tackling the pests.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Mohibullah Khan on Monday presided over a meeting to review the agriculture department’s response to battling swarms of locusts.

Agriculture Secretary Israr Khan, Agriculture Extension Director-General Abid Kamal and other senior officials attended the meeting.

The provincial agriculture minister was briefed on the presence of locusts and measures to control it.

The minister was told that teams have been formed at the district level where locust swarms are present.

At least 25,833 acres of land has been sprayed with insecticides in 15 districts of the province to control the locusts, the minister was told.

To further control the roving swarms of locusts, Mohibullah was told that aerial spray will also be conducted.

The locusts entered K-P through Sherani, Mosakhel and Zhobs districts of Balochistan on January 25 this year and since then have spread to several southern districts of the province.

As a result, the provincial government had been forced to impose an emergency in all locust-hit districts of K-P on January 28. The emergency was later extended to other districts of the province which were affected by locusts.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2020.