Summary sent to federal cabinet: Ministry to declare national emergency over locust attack

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research on Thursday announced that it has decided to declare a national emergency over locust attack in some parts of the country, and a summary has been sent to federal cabinet. During a briefing to National Assembly's special committee on agriculture, presided over by Speaker Asad Qaiser, the ministry said that after a gap of 30 years, the locust once again attacked the country.

The committee was told that services of armed forces and Pakistan Air Force to combat the issue has been acquired as 300 personnel of the armed forces are receiving training to tackle it. The ministry officials said that the army will also provide 200 vehicles to carry out spray in the desert area and they will also assist authorities in carrying out spray in border areas.

They said that to monitor an area spanning up to three hundred thousand square kilometres, satellite be used to monitor the locust movement. A total of Rs 459 million is required for this operation and we have already received Rs 140 million, said the ministry officials, adding they have also submitted a requisition of 12 planes to be utilized for spray-purpose.

The officials said that in order to avoid further losses from locusts attack, it is necessary to restrict its movement at Balochistan border. Earlier, the National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products signed Memorandum of Understanding with six agricultural Universities of Pakistan in a bid to facilitate sustained collaboration for agricultural transformation.

Under a collaborative mechanism and shared commitment, the agriculture universities will provide technical support to Speaker's led Special Committee on Agricultural Products. The MoU was signed in the presence of the Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser.

While talking to vice chancellors of agricultural universities and heads of agriculture research institutions, the speaker stressed the need for policy shift to make agriculture more competitive, profitable, and sustainable.

Asad Qasier said that agricultural development was indispensable to country's enduring quest for sustained and inclusive economic growth. He stated that agriculture universities as repository of agricultural knowledge, research and intellectual capital may play a key role in guiding the National Assembly's pathways for agricultural development.

Speaker NA maintained that for successful transformation of agriculture sector, the National Assembly endeavors to enact evidence and knowledge-based policies and oversight of the executives on implementation of laws, policies and strategic priorities for the agriculture sector.

The special committee on agricultural products seeks to facilitate inclusive consultation, policy dialogue, coherence and coordination at all levels of government to address the constraints that inhibit the national agricultural growth.

Under the MoU, the universities will develop customized and demand-based position papers, briefing papers, backgrounds, fact sheets and policy reviews on agricultural issues for the Committee's deliberations. The universities will facilitate public hearings, policy dialogues and stakeholders' consultation as per the needs of the Committee.

On the sidelines of the MoU signing ceremony, the Sub-Committee of the Special Committee on Agricultural Products also met with Vice Chancellors to discuss the universities' suggestions for agricultural development. The meeting presided by the convener Syed Fakhar comprehensively examined the National Action Plan for Anti-Locust operations.

The vice chancellors stated that rather than fire fighting, the research institutions and universities should thoroughly examine the genesis of the locust in a more scientific manner. In this regard, the committee formed a task-force headed by Chairman PARC comprising representatives of agriculture universities.

The committee urged the universities to examine the issues of agricultural credit, agriculture technology transfer, value addition, horticulture development, regulation of the pesticides, fertilizers and seeds sector, and agriculture research development. The sub-committee also sought practical proposals on developing collaborative linkages between research departments, universities, extension departments and farmers.