Food ministry decides to declare emergency over locusts attack

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Food Security and Research said on Thursday that it has basically decided to declare a national emergency over locusts attack in parts of the country and a review summary also sent to the Federal cabinet in this regard.

The ministry officials briefed on it during a meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture of the National Assembly, chaired by Speaker Asad Qaiser.

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The ministry said the locusts have once again attacked the country after a 30-year disparity. “We have obtained armed forces and Pakistan Air Force services in the fight against this problem,” food ministry officials said adding 300 armed forces personnel are getting training to handle it.

“The army would also provide 200 trucks in the desert area to conduct spray and will help officials in performing border spray,” said officials of the ministry.

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They said a region covering up to three hundred thousand square kilometers would need to be tracked and would use satellites to track locust activities.