Anti-locust operation suspended as pesticides stocks run out.

Byline: Majeed Gill

BAHAWALPUR -- With the suspension of the pesticide spray to eradicate swarms of locust in the desert, crops in Cholistan are under the threat of insects' attack.

The rural areas in two tehsils Ahmedpur east and Yazman of the district came under the attack of the insects on Thursday, Agriculture Director Khalid Sindhu said. According to the director, they launched the operation to destroy them.

Dawn learnt that the earlier ongoing operation had been suspended 10 days ago, mainly due to the unavailability of pesticides as the entire stocks provided by Punjab and federal governments have been sprayed by the teams of agriculture department.

The operation began in the wake of the influx of swarms in past months in Cholistan from the Indian side of Rajasthan.

Fields teams of the revenue department and the Cholistan Development Authority (CDA) fought against such swarms and, according to some insiders, succeeded to wipe out the insects but their constant flights from Indian side have damaged some of the areas in the vast desert of Cholistan.

The attack of the insect also deprived the Cholistan's livestock of their normal grazing grounds. Farmers have demanded the resumption of stocks of the pesticides supplies to eliminate the locusts in the winter season.

...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT