Locust epidemic could lead to food crisis in Pakistan, warns expert

• The insects were still entering the province from Balochistan and Punjab, says official.
• Climate change and weather conditions play an important role in locust breeding.

Pakistan needs ‘a synchronized and coordinated’ strategy to fight against the desert locusts efficiently, says expert otherwise the rising invasion could lead to food crisis in the country.

“We have conducted 20 operations through ground and aerial spray, finishing and containing the insects’ further spread. The only viable option is that all four provinces should launch a synchronized and coordinated strategy to counter the desert locusts efficiently,” said Muhammad Naveed, deputy director for plant protection at the KP Agriculture Extension Department, quoted Arab News.

The official informed that the insects were still entering the province from Balochistan and Punjab. “The country can face with food crisis if timely action isn’t taken,” he said.

Pakistan has been fighting the biblical epidemic for a number of months, swarms of locust are in Sindh and Balochistan since October and has destroyed considerable cropland.

Just days ago, MNA from Bahawalpur Riaz Pirzada told the National Assembly about the extent of the problem. “There is a big threat. If we have to declare national emergency we will," he said. In terms of locust existence, Pakistan has already entered “third category" and is just one step away from entering the last one, he informed.

Climate change and weather conditions play an important role in locust breeding, previously, the locust swarms used to move to Iran after sometime, but this time they are still in Pakistan due to low temperatures. Given these conditions, the locusts breed and multiply. According to experts, total number of locusts in a swarm varies from a few hundred millions to several billions.