BAHAWALPUR: The threat of locust attack on the crops, particularly cotton, is reportedly looming over the south Punjab, including Bahawalpur. The reports, however, have been denied by the agriculture department officials that Dawn talked to.

The claim regarding the threat of the locusts attack has been made by the expert at agriculture (extension), Dr Shaukat Ali, in his warning note to the farming community of the area.

It may be recalled that the locusts have already attacked Balochistan and after damaging crops there, the swarms entered the desert areas of Khairpur and other districts of Sindh province last month.

According to Dr Shaukat, the locusts might damage the crops in the vast areas of Cholistan in the districts of Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan. He advised the cultivators in these districts to take precautionary as well as remedial measures to save their crops from the possible attack of locust.

Dr Shaukat advised the farmers to adopt a strange way to ward off locust. He asked them take to the fields after the locusts attack and either fire crackers or make noise by striking the metal canisters or containers with sticks to produce noise which would force the locust to leave the crops and disappear. He has also said the locusts’ swarms do not attack the crops during night time and instead damage the crops during day time.

However, according to the international media reports, pesticides are the only solution to control locusts and that also when their population is not mature. Observing the weather patterns also helps as observing changes in weather pattern can help experts identify the pockets where locust population may thrive into swarms. There is evidence that warmer temperatures and climate change are also causing locusts to shift globally and find new locations. The locust population might be controlled in these pockets through pesticides when it’s young. According to a report in the www.aljazeera.com, the locusts that attacked Pakistan started in the Arabian Peninsula, they swarmed from the Red Sea coast of Sudan and Eritrea in January, hit Saudi Arabia and Iran in February and southwestern Pakistan in March.

Director Agriculture (Extension) Bahawalpur Jamshed Sindhu talking to Dawn denied any possibility of the locust attack in the division, saying that he had no knowledge of it yet. He added he had recently taken over the charge of his post in Bahawalpur and no alert regarding locusts had been received yet.

Besides, Director Information Agriculture Multan Ismat Kahlon also told Dawn by phone that the department had no indication that the locusts were travelling towards any part of Punjab. However, he added that as some of the reports had appeared in a section of the press recently and he would have to check all his research laboratories and get details from his higher-ups.

The locals of the Cholistan areas expressed fear and surprise over these reports, adding that so far there was no movement of the locusts visible in their area. They said neither the agriculture department nor any other government agency so far warned them about the possible threat of the locust.

They demanded the agriculture department clear the situation and remove the confusion. They said the government should check the situation of the locusts from the governments of Balochistan and Sindh and in the light of their feedback, rapidly finalise anti-locust arrangements to save their crops, especially the cotton crop, which had already suffered damage due to the recent rains.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2019