Anti-locust drive held in 31 districts of Pakistan

966 joint teams comprising over 5,082 people take part in campaign

ISLAMABAD:

The anti-locust operation has been carried out in 31 affected districts of the country, covering approximately 2.2927 million acres of area, in order to eradicate the pests and save agricultural land from its harmful effects.

As many as 966 joint teams comprising over 5,082 people took part in the campaign, according to details released by the National Locust Control Centre (NLCC).

The joint teams of the Ministry of National Food Security, provincial departments of agriculture and Pakistan Army conducted a comprehensive survey and control operation against locusts in different districts of the country and so far 90.55 million acres of land has been surveyed.

In Punjab, about 234,128 acres of land was surveyed during the last 24 hours and control operation was performed over 999 acres. More than 2,282 people and 323 vehicles took part in this exercise.

So far, under the anti-locust drive the survey was completed over an area of 2.83 million acres and operation was completed over 949,910 acres.

In Sindh, the survey was conducted over 93,900 acres of land, whereas the locusts’ presence was confirmed in four districts while anti-locust operation was carried out on 2,217 acres.

More than 109 vehicles and 865 peoples, including Pakistan Army soldiers, participated in the campaign. In Sindh, the survey was completed on 14,400,000 acres, whereas the control operation was carried out over an area of 154,527 acres.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 196,918 acres of land was surveyed during the last 24 hours, whereas operation was carried out with the help of 865 people and 109 vehicles.

So far, 10.44 million acres of land has been surveyed and 154,527 acres has been cleared in the province.

During the last 24 hours in Balochistan, 397,558 hectares of land has been surveyed and infestation was confirmed in 26 districts, including Khuzdar, Awaran, Nushki, Chagai, Washhak, Quetta, Dara Bugti, Ziarat, Othal, Kharran, Panjgur and Kharran among others.

The control operation was carried out over 3,627 acres of land in order to mitigate the impact of the pest attack. More than 1,308 people, including Pakistan Army soldiers and over 119 vehicles, took part in the operation.

So far 32,500,000 acres of land has been surveyed and operation has been carried out on over 1,140,287 million acres of land in the province.

In addition to aerial spraying with the help of airplanes and helicopters, non-conventional methods are also being used for effective control of locusts during control operations.