RAWALPINDI: After reports of deadly attack of Locusts Swarm decimating crops in parts of Sindh and Balochistan, the agriculture department in Punjab province is in a state of high alert.
A spokesman for Punjab Agriculture Department on Monday said special teams have been deputed to monitor of possible attack of Locusts Swarm in Southern districts of Punjab contagious to the affected provinces.
The Spokesman in a press statement said that after receiving reports of attack of Locusts Swarm in some areas of Balochistan and Sindh, Government of Punjab is high alert to deal with this threat and adopting all possible precautionary as well as remedial measures to save their crops from possible attack of Locusts Swarm.
He said the government of Punjab is in contact with relevant departments to deal with any emergency situation.
He said Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan District administration are in close contact. They are also in connect provincial authorities in Balochistan and Sindh.
Punjab Government has also contacted federal government institutions, especially the Federal Ministry of Food Security and Research, the Federal Plant Protection Department and other relevant institutions.
Punjab Government has also purchased pesticides to combat of Locusts Swarm’s possible attack, the spokesman added.
Moreover, the aircraft of the Federal Plant Protection Department will also be available in Punjab for Locusts Swarm control. If required, Punjab government will also manage pesticides for Cholistan where vehicles cannot reach.
Swarms of locusts spread to several districts of Sindh including Nawabshah, Naushehro Feroz, Sanghar, Mirpur Khas, Jamshoro after initially descending in Khairpur from Balochistan. They cause large-scale devastation to the crops.
Photographs and videos of locusts flying and resting around agricultural fields in a number of Sindh districts have been making rounds for the past many days.
Agrarian organizations have been warning that if the authorities failed to control the locusts, already strained agriculture sector would suffer huge financial loss in billions of rupees.
