KARACHI: Federal government is still dragging its feet on the provision of aircraft to Sindh for spraying pesticide on the swarms of locusts that are now threatening the crops and vegetation in three districts of the province, a provincial minister said on Tuesday.
“Locust swarms have entered in Kashmore, Daharki taluka in Ghotki, and Faiz Gang Taluka in Khairpur district,” said Muhammad Ismail Rahoo, Sindh minister for agriculture, while talking to The News.
Rahoo said around 23 vehicles of Sindh agriculture department were spraying in deserted areas of the province, but aerial spray was must to end the attacks of locust.
“Without aerial spray, locust is going to be disastrous,” he said.
He said that federal government had pledged to hire 12 aircrafts for the aerial spray, but no action was taken on National Action Plan. Currently, only one spray machine-mounted vehicle of Plant Protection Department was active in Sindh, whose fuel was being supplied by the provincial government, he added.
It must be noted that Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) along with federal government had supported the survey and stance of Sindh government that aerial spray was must to combat locusts. FAO has provided live mapping access to Plant Protection Department of Pakistan to have an eye over locust movement.
So far, seven districts of Sindh bordering desert are affected and include Tharparkar, Umerkot, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Khairpur, Sukkur and Ghotki. An area of 2.5 million hectares over 25,000 square kilometers is now a hatchery of locusts with either eggs or babies.
“Locust will be harmful for corn, cotton, and paddy in the coming days. The federal government should take action otherwise growers will face huge losses,” Rahoo said.
Rahoo said that they have written to Sindh government to take up the issue with the federal government, as the situation was moving towards worst.
The minister said with the Chinese support, some pesticides were to be handed over to Sindh government this week. “It was an initiative of Sindh government in which chief minister himself met with Chinese Consul General and requested him for the support,” he claimed.
A delegation of Chinese experts in February had offered 50 vehicles that would spray 16,000 hectares per day, 50 units of drones that would spray and monitor 1,333 hectares per hour along with aircraft. However, China has only provided support of remote spray pesticides, while no aircraft or drone has been provided for the aerial spray.
Locust swarms were reported in Khairpur district in May 2019. Sindh government had reported it to the Director General, Federal Plant Protection Department, to initiate the operation against the locust attack, as aerial spray comes under the mandate of the federal government.
In a previous letter to the ministry of food security and research, Rahoo had demanded at least three aircraft each for Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad, and Mirpurkhas divisions to combat the attack. He had also demanded eight vehicles along with ULV (ultra-low volume sprayer) for these divisions.