IN a contracting economy that faces an uncertain future amid the rapid spread of Covid-19 across the country, the agriculture sector has proved to be the only silver lining in the thick black recessionary clouds. The farm sector, which, according to the Economic Survey for 2019-2020, has grown by 2.67pc, compared to 0.85pc the previous financial year, could not stop the overall economy from moving into negative territory for the first time in 68 years, but it did help slow down the damage. That agriculture registered a positive growth in spite of the significant damage caused to crops by the widespread locust plague speaks volumes for this sector’s resilience. Some say that agricultural growth estimates for the present year may be exaggerated. But everyone agrees that the sector may not perform as well during the next fiscal year unless the new threat from the crop-eating pests in the coming weeks and months is tackled effectively and urgently.

The locust infestation across the country is worsening in spite of the ramped-up measures taken in recent weeks to control the menace. A report on Thursday said that, apart from their old route through Iran — the pests have found a new corridor via Afghanistan to enter Pakistan and devastate crops in KP before attacking green fields in the adjoining districts of Punjab. In addition, a new wave of locust swarms originating from Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa is expected to reach Balochistan via Iran after travelling through Saudi Arabia and Yemen in the next two weeks. The emerging situation is alarming for farmers who have for more than a year been trying to cope with the plague to somehow cut their losses and protect their livelihoods. Tens of hundreds of poor farmers, especially from Balochistan — the worst-hit province with its 33 districts under locust attack — have already lost their means of earning while others are reporting significant losses. The government claims it is monitoring the movement of the migratory pests in the region on a daily basis and strengthening its infrastructure to fight off the menace. However, the authorities need to realise that they are running out of time. The failure to deal with the threat will not only wipe out millions of rural livelihoods and add to poverty but could also cause food insecurity at a time when people are still trying to cope with another plague, ie the coronavirus.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2020