'Expired pesticide aggravated locusts attack situation'.

Byline: Irfanul Haq

RAHIM YAR KHAN -- The locusts in the desert areas could not be eliminated soon after the onset of attack due to use of expired pesticide (malathion) Ultra Low Volume (ULV) which was in the stock of the Directorate of Locusts Control (DLC), Islamabad, sources told Dawn.

They said the efficacy of fresh pesticide would have been far more than the one used by the officials. The spray was done through plane and vehicle mounted machines. The danger of locusts attack on the crops had eventually been reduced because its breeding season had ended with the start of winter and it is migrating towards coastal areas of the north, they said. Speaking on the issue of recent locusts attack, Director General Agriculture Pest Control Punjab Syed Zafaryab Haider told Dawn that the newborn insect did more damage to the crops than that was done by mature locusts. He said the last time locusts appeared in the desert areas of Bahawalpur division was in 1997 and it did not reappear for more than two decades.

'Basically locust is an insect of desert. Initially, it started its journey from African countries and later travelling from Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran, it entered the coastal areas of Balochistan in March and then it started breeding. After its breeding season it entered Nara desert in Khairpur district of Sindh in April 2019.

'By the end of June, locusts...