PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
The SAB, whose office-bearers and members held an online meeting to discuss the menace cutting a swathe through agricultural fields, urged the federal and Sindh governments to rise above their differences to deal with the pests.
"The concerns of the growers are increasing because of the lack of coordination between provinces and the federal government, their inaction and the absence of a clear strategy to control the locusts," said a statement issued after the meeting. The farmers maintained that the cause of the unusual increase in locust swarms was essentially the lack of timely and effective control measures.
According to the SAB, which warned about a looming food security crisis in Pakistan, 38 per cent of the country's area is favourable for locust breeding, especially following the monsoon rains.
"If not controlled, this [locust invasion] is going to be the last straw that will break the back of the rural economy that is already suffering under the impact of Covid-19. [Consequently] it will have a significant effect on the other sectors of Pakistan's economy," the farmers pointed out.
The SAB appealed to the federal and Sindh governments to set aside their political differences and develop a joint strategy to combat locusts.
"The window to effectively control locusts is narrow and it lies when they are in the desert for breeding," said the statement, underlining the need for aerial spraying in regions inhabited by locust swarms as the most effective measure of killing the insects.
The SAB suggested that a team of experts, preferably local experts with knowledge and experience of eradicating locusts, should be formed. The government has also been asked to coordinate with Iran and India for formulating control measures.
Wheat procurement
The board further claimed that the Sindh government had been able to achieve only 40 per cent of its wheat procurement target 1.4 million tonnes, even as the harvest season neared its end in the province.
The procurement started in the first week of April whereas the harvest began near the end of February.
"It is difficult to comprehend why, at a time when there was limited transport due to the lockdown and a ban on the inter-district and inter-provincial movement of wheat, the provincial government wasn't able to complete its target," the board noted.
The farmers lamented that due to restrictions on the movement of wheat, the crop's price had slumped from Rs1,580 per 40 kilogrammes to a minimum of Rs1,275 and maximum of Rs1,350 in the open market.
The board also deplored the raids initiated by the Sindh government on farmers' wheat stock as well as the forceful confiscation of the stocks the government claimed were hoarded.
"It is important to note that 50 per cent of the population lives in rural areas and therefore about 30 per cent of the wheat production is retained by growers for their own consumption and seeds," the SAB pointed out, asking Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to put an end to the confiscation of wheat stocks by the government.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2020.
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