Locust breeding has started in Tharparkar and Cholistan areas, which can pose a lethal threat to food security, said Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam.
He made the remarks while chairing a meeting of the National Locusts Control Centre on Friday. A recent forecast of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) was presented, according to which, summer breeding of locust has commenced along both sides of the India-Pakistan border.
It was pointed out that massive swarms of insects were present mainly in Rajasthan, India. Hatching and band formation will increase this month in Rajasthan and northern Gujarat, India as well as adjacent areas of Tharparkar, Nara and Cholistan deserts in Pakistan, the forecast stated.
Citing reports of desert locust swarms present in northern Somalia, it suggested that migration of the pest from Africa to the summer-breeding areas lying along both sides of the India-Pakistan border could be imminent. There were fears that even more swarms were likely to be formed in northern Somalia over the next few weeks. “India and Pakistan have been warned accordingly and they continue to take preparatory measures,” it said.
Also attending the meeting, officials of the Pakistan Meteorological Department mentioned that in western Balochistan the locust survived undetected.
“Moist currents are penetrating upper and central parts of the country from the Bay of Bengal,” they said. “More monsoon currents are likely to penetrate upper and central parts of the country from Sunday.”
Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted that Saudi Arabia and Kenya were interested in bilateral exchange of information on locust.
It was informed that the National Locusts Control Centre had also developed an integration map, which was shared with all the provinces on a daily basis.
Officials in the meeting stressed the need for generating large-scale provincial maps to include district-level migration forecast.
Officials of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa food department said no locust activity had been witnessed in the province since July 2. “In the last 24 hours, an area of 171,911 acres has been surveyed,” they said.
Officials of the Balochistan food department said the province had worked extremely hard to eliminate the threat of locust but still locust was found in 22 districts of the province in the last 24 hours.
The Punjab Food Authority said in the last 24 hours an area of 260,516 acres was surveyed and no locust activity was found. It was also informed that teams were working in Cholistan, Pak Pattan and Lodhran to eradicate the insect.
Officials of the Sindh Food Authority pointed out that in the last 24 hours, an area of 94,807 acres was surveyed and teams were working in Tharparkar and Nara deserts.
The Department of Plant Protection shared guidelines for the survey and control operation with the provinces.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 18th, 2020.
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