Emergency locust project to be set up with World Bank assistance.

ISLAMABAD -- The federal government is gearing up to launch a World Bank-funded locust emergency and food security project in the country amid claims by a federal minister that the catastrophic impact of locust attacks on crops has been minimised with the help of local authorities.

The $200 million project, the first federal agricultural project to be financed by the WB, had been submitted for approval by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) of the Planning Commission for its upcoming meeting, according to a press release.

The Locust Emergency and Food Security (LEAFS) project would carry out its activities in 18 districts: nine in Balochistan, four in Punjab, four in Sindh and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Meanwhile, federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam claimed that the impact of desert locusts on the country`s agriculture had been minimised to some extent, and by and large the situation was under control.

The joint efforts of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, National Locust Control Centre(NLCC), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), PDMA, provincial governments, Pakistan Army, Suparco, PMD and the survey group under the engineering-in-chief of the Pakistan Army had helped stabilise the situation to a great extent in majority of the affected areas, he added.

Faulty aircraft According to the minister, 20 dedicated aircraft would be used in the operation to control desert locusts.

The government was buying six aircraft, while the remaining would be hired on lease.

He stated that the Department of Plant Protection had a well-established fleet of 20 aircraft before devolution but 16 of those machines had become dysfunctional and one out of the four remaining had crashed in February this year in which a pilot and an engineer lost their lives. Two pilots had been engaged and their training had been completed, he added according to a statement released to the press.

The WB-funded project`s objectives would include...

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