Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The National Locust Ccontrol Centre (NLCC) had carried out anti-locust anti-pest operation over 1,111,920 hectares of land in six months and saved agriculture crops from destruction standing over million of hectares. The joint teams of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, provincial agriculture departments and the Pakistan Army were conducting a comprehensive survey and control operation against the locusts in effected districts and succeeded to minimize its threat to only two districts from 61 districts.
According to NLCC, the locust spread was completely eliminated from the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as no presence of the pest was reported during last 24 hours. However, locust was presented in one district of Balochistan and one district of Sindh where as anti-locust survey and control operations were in progress. In last 24 hours 202,880 hectares area has been surveyed and control operation have been carried out on 100 hectares of District Lasbella of Balochistan and 1,530 hectares of district Tharparkar of Sind.
In last six months, control operation has been completed on 1,111,920 hectares of land. In the light of prevailing climatic conditions and availability of vegetation in Horn of Africa (HOA) threat though has reduced but is not yet over. Lasbela District require a continuous survey effort for early detection of any presence. It is to be ensured that survey data (Presence or ABSENT) is also uploaded through eLocust. A reported probable Adult Group migration from Oman requires vigilance specially along coastline of Karachi, Thatta and Sajawal, NLCC added on Sunday.
