CM seeks three aircraft from Centre for locust operation.

LAHORE -- Notwithstanding government claims that 'timely action' has prevented locust from causing any 'significant' damage to crops anywhere in Punjab, farmers continue to complain that they are having sleepless nights as state agencies are paying little heed to the issue.

Using his official account, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar tweeted on Monday that the federal government has been requested to provide three aircraft for aerial spray of insecticides on the area under the locust attack.

Acknowledging that next couple of months are crucial to fight the malaise, he says attempts are in the offing to curtail reproduction of locust and so far a sum of Rs1 billion has been released to fund the campaign.

Provincial Agriculture Minister Malik Nauman Ahmed Langrial told a departmental meeting earlier in the day that in collaboration with the Federal Department of Plant Protection, arrangements have been made for aerial spray to control the spring breed of locusts.

He said due to timely action of the agriculture department, no significant damage had so far been done to the crops in Punjab due to the locust attack.

So far, surveillance of a total area of 3.7 million hectares has been completed and more than 44,000 litres of pesticides have been applied on 133,000 hectares.

He said a joint control operation with the help of Pakistan Army, Punjab Agriculture Department, PDMA and the district administration was going...