Staff Reporter
Sindh Minister for Agriculture Muhammad Ismail Rahu has said that the provincial government has released Rs 331 million for drive against locusts and hopes that the locusts swarms will be eliminated within next ten days from across the province.
Addressing a meeting held with deputy commissioners (DCs), revenue and agriculture officials at Commissioner Sukkur office on Wednesday, he said the provincial government was taking emergent steps for the elimination of locusts.
The minister said directives had been issued to district administrations to carry out survey in locust affected districts so that the provincial government could determine the losses and provide relieve to locusts affected growers.
The provincial government fully realized the miseries of the growers and would make all-out efforts to compensate them, he assured.
He further said 40 field teams of Sindh Agriculture Extension, joint field teams of Federal Plant Protection Department and Sindh Agriculture Extension had also been engaged in carrying out drive against locusts swarms.
Ismail Rahu told the meeting that the desert locusts entered in Sindh were first spotted in the Nara area of Khairpur district on May 13, adding the worst-affected areas, besides Nara, included Salehpat in Sukkur district, and desert areas of Ghotki, Tharparkar, Sanghar (Acchro Thar), Umerkot and Shaheed Benazirabad (Gongo Thar) districts.
The minister informed that Sukkur, Khairpur and Noshehroferoze districts were the locust affected areas where the district administrations had been engaged to assess the losses.
He asked the Sukkur commissioner to continue monitoring the drive and maintain close coordination.
