Locust may create food security, poverty issues: CM Sindh.

KARACHI -- Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said he was receiving reports from the growers that the locust swarms had again started attacking their crops.

'This is a serious situation and must be addressed at the earliest, otherwise food security issue would be inevitable," this he said on Wednesday while presiding over a meeting regarding control on locust in Sindh, said a statement issued from the CM House.

The meeting was attended by Minister Agriculture Ismail Rahu, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, Secretary Finance Hassan Naqvi, Secretary Agriculture Raheem Soomro, Brigadier Huzaifa of 5 Corps, DG PDMA Salman Shah, DG Agriculture Extension Hidayatullah, Director Department of Plant Protection of Fed govt Tariq Ali Khan and others.

Minister Agriculture Ismail Rahu with the support of his secretary Raheem Soomro briefing the chief minister said initially Ghotki and Kashmore districts were affected by locust in April 2020. Mostly, the desert areas of the province were under threat.

The meeting was told that locust came from Balochistan and adopted route of Jacobabad, Larkana, Kambar-shahdadkot, Jamshoro and travelled to other districts. Adult locust swarms almost affected all the districts, therefore the agriculture department took immediate efforts for survey and control operation.

The locust, the meeting was informed, attacked Ghotki district in April 2020 where 18829 acres and a similar attack was reported in Kashmore where emergency was declared and 19227 acres were sprayed.

Ismail Rahu said Nymphal population / Hopper bands available in desert areas of Tharparkar, Umerkot, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Khairpur, Sukkur and Ghotki from where they could move to cropping area which was a serious threat.

He said the Department of Plant Protection (DPP), also helped the agriculture department in control operation in districts of Ghotki, Kashmore and Khairpur. The DPP covered an area of 18,871 acres.

He added that agriculture extension teams treated in all districts upto 43935 acres. 'In this way over 62813 acres have been treated in 22 districts of the province,' Ismail Rahu told the CM.

The agriculture department was carrying out survey and control operation in...