CM Sindh requests six aircraft for locust control operation

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has urged the federal government to provide six aircraft for spray in desert areas as locust swarms have once again started attacking standing crops in the province.

This chief minister, while presiding over a meeting regarding control on locust in Sindh, said that he was receiving reports from growers that the locust swarms have again started attacking their crops. He said this is a serious situation and must be addressed at the earliest otherwise food security would be inevitable.

Minister for Agriculture Ismail Rahu and secretary Raheem Soomro briefed the chief minister and said that initially Ghotki and Kashmore districts were affected by locust in April 2020 and now the desert area of the province are under threat.

The meeting was told that locust came from Balochistan to Jacobabad, Larkana, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Jamshoro and onwards to other districts. The locust swarms have affected all districts and pose a threat in desert areas of Tharparkar, Umerkot, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Khairpur, Sukkur and Ghotki.

The locust attacked Ghotki district in April 2020 where 18829 acres were sprayed and a similar attack was reported in Kashmore where emergency was declared and 19227 acres were sprayed.

Rahu said the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) also helped the agriculture department in control operation in Ghotki, Kashmore and Khairpur districts. The DPP covered an area of 18,871 acres and agriculture extension teams treated 43935 acres in all districts of Sindh.

The chief minister was informed that the agriculture department is carrying out survey and control operation in crops as well as desert areas.

Secretary Agriculture Raheem Soomro said that that NDMA and DPP have provided safety kits for 28 teams to be used for control operation, deployed five teams along with spray vehicles, delivered 12 tractors mounted with air blast for crop areas.

He saidt hey have also reserved 124,000 liters of ULV pesticides at Mirpurkhas and Sukkur for desert area spray. The DPP also imparted training to 50 agriculture field staff for handling ULV sprayers.

The chief minister said that a letter was written to the prime minister on May 1 requesting to provide six aircraft but no concrete steps have been taken. He said the federal government was also requested to provide ULV sprayers, pesticides, including ULV, Lamba Cyhalothrin Emulsified Concentrate in sufficient quantity and deploy field teams.

He added that only an old aircraft with one pilot have been kept at Sukkur which has to cover the entire  Sindh and Balochistan region. He urged the federal government to send five more crafts and required pesticides and teams so that locust could be controlled before the Kharif season.