ISLAMABAD: As there is no immediate threat of desert locust swarms in Pakistan until the end of 2020, the National Locust Control Centre on Friday held a closing meeting during which Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhr Imam announced that Pakistan had overcome the challenge of the locust.

Addressing the closing ceremony at the National Locust Control Centre, Mr Imam praised provincial government institutions for their coordinated efforts and said they rose to the challenge. Their coordinated efforts as well as the help of villagers and farmers helped confront the crop-munching pests, he said.

These combined efforts had proved that the Pakistani nation had the capability of meeting any formidable challenge, the minister added.

Early in January this year, residual swarms from breeding in 2019 affected numerous districts of Punjab and Sindh, subsequently spreading to Balochistan in the southwest. Pakistan is an important frontline country for desert locusts as it lies on the route of migratory swarms from both east and west and has summer in Sindh and Punjab as well as winter and spring breeding areas in Balochistan.

The Chief Coordinator of the National Locust Control Centre, Lt Gen Moazzam Ejaz, expressed satisfaction that the challenge of locusts had successfully been overcome.

National Locust Control Centre holds wrap-up meeting

Speaking at the ceremony, he said all institutions, including the provincial governments and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), worked in close coordination to eradicate the crop-threatening pests. The Army Aviation worked day and night in the fight against the locust, he said.

The country representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Mina Dowlatchahi, hailed Pakistan for successfully getting out of the tremendous challenge in the shortest time. “We can learn from Pakistan’s good practices in the fight against locusts,” she observed.

In his remarks, NDMA Chairman Lt Gen Mohammad Afzal said that Pakistan had developed the capacity and capability to more effectively cope with locust attacks in future.

Meanwhile, a situation analysis of the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in South-West Asia (SWAC) suggests that Pakistan may minimise its survey in all areas other than the desert belts of Sindh and Punjab and concentrate on its control activities in Lasbela and adjoining areas where possibility of the presence of locusts still exists.

Lasbela or Uthal area west of Karachi is considered as a transition zone where locusts may be present nearly any time of the year. There is no more presence of hopper groups and bands in India and Sindh and Punjab provinces as a result of an effective control.

However, a continuous and vigorous monitoring is required in these areas to detect any second generation development in areas that remains unattended.

There is no threat from Horn of Africa and Arabia as winds have changed from north to south and locusts will start migrating in the opposite direction, away from the India-Pakistan region. The locust threat from East Africa to Southeast Asia no longer exists as locust swarms present in Somalia are likely to move south to Ethiopia. Some swarms in Yemen have migrated along the Red Sea coast to Saudi Arabia.

The FAO has appreciated the good work done by Pakistan and India in controlling the locust.

However, the UN agency stressed that this situation should not be taken as a relief at least until the end of November and surveillance should be continued by the two countries as there may be some grey or unattended areas where locust breeding may have continued.

The next meeting of the FAO Commission will be held on Oct 12.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2020