Locust threat from west diminishing

Hopper present only in two districts, widespread egg laying reported in Sindh

ISLAMABAD:

National Food Security Minister Syed Fakhar Imam and National Locust Control Centre (NLCC) Coordinator Lt Gen Moazzam Ejaz visited Thar on Friday to review the ongoing operation against the locust attack.

During the visit, Imam said that all the provinces were doing well to controls locust. “The NLCC is working hard to control the spread of locust,” he said, adding that the Pakistan army and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had also worked hard in the anti-locust operation.

During a briefing, the minister was informed that the threat of hopper coming from the Horn of Africa was reducing with each passing day because of the conducive climate condition and availability of green vegetation, especially in Sudan and Ethiopia.

The minister was briefed that the threat from Yemen and Oman had diluted due to extensive rainfalls and change of wind direction toward Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, while the threat from Iran had diminished because vegetation dried out and hopper’s migration towards summer breeding areas.

In India, the minister was informed, the maximum locust concentration was in Rajasthan and the extensive presence of first generation of hopper had been seen in northeast of Barmer, which posed a considerable threat to the country.

In case of Pakistan, locust was present in two districts, Thar of Sindh and Lasbella of Balochistan. “No presence of the locust is reported in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa today [Friday]. Widespread egg laying has been reported in Sindh with hopper swarms in Thar along the Indian border.”

According to a handout, the ongoing efforts of the NLCC were also discussed during the briefing. The NLCC informed that 516,673 square kilometres area was surveyed and 11,167 square kilometres had been treated.

The meeting was also informed that 4 army helicopters and 4 Beaver aircraft of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) were being used for aerial spray, while the NDMA had hired Piper Brave from Turkey to supplement the aerial sprays in the affected areas.

Similarly, the NDMA had received 5 drones from China, while 12 drones donated by China would be transported to Pakistan along with Covid equipment. The Department for International Development (DfID) of the UK had provided £1 million in assistance for the locust control in Pakistan through the FAO.

It was also informed that the NLCC was training pilots for spray operations. Officials said that training for 3 Pilots for aerial wing of DPP was under progress at Sukkur airport. They said that conversion training – 10 hours each – had been completed and now agri rating – 35 hours each – training was under progress.