FAO to provide GPS facility for locust affected areas

The minister urged for concrete technical advice of FAO regarding recent locust phenomena in Punjab

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on Tuesday reiterated its resolve for continuing supports to Pakistan in its efforts to control the locust attack which had affected crops standing over vast areas.

FAO representative in Pakistan Mina Dowlatchahi called on Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar and discussed the matter.

The FAO representative said the organization had technical experts in FAO’s head quarter who could share their expertise with the government of Pakistan in that regard. She affirmed to provide locust devices which required GPS facility in the affected areas.

Mina Dowlatchahi said that FAO as a neutral coordinator was going to arrange a coordination meeting of locust affected countries in the region including Pakistan, India, Iran and Afghanistan earlier next month in Abu Dhabi.

The minister urged for concrete technical advice of FAO regarding recent locust phenomena in Punjab as the province was highly stressed with reported locust attack on gram crop, guidance on international best practices and use of pesticides with safety standards.

Khusro Bakhtiar also showed concern over the use of chemical pesticides and asked for recommended chemical and bio-pesticides with minimal impact on environment.

The minister stressed on urgent supply of e-locust devices for effective surveillance of the locust in affected areas.

He also said that supply of right Pesticides was extremely important, adding “We don’t want to end up with the procurement of wrong pesticides.”

The minister appreciated the efforts of FAO and stressed for developing a common work plan for controlling the locust without any time lag.

The two sides agreed to continue their joint efforts for cooperation in the area of controlling locust in Pakistan.