Locust Swarm Attack – Pakistan declares national emergency over.
Prime Minister Imran Khan declared the emergency to protect crops and help farmers from Locust Swarm attack. The Pakistani government said it was the worst lobster infestation in more than two decades.
What is Locust Swarm attack? Locust wiki.
Locust worms are bark beetles, which reproduce in the inner bark of the tree, have a murderous reputation. And while some insect species like locust swarm attack healthy trunks. They generally look for trees that are already sick, dying or weak. Their role in forest ecology is a very controversial issue. Some say they provide invaluable service and others insist that they are plagues that wreak havoc.
The Pakistani government declared a national emergency on Saturday. This in response to swarms of desert lobsters in the eastern part of the country. Prime Minister Imran Khan made the emergency statement after a government briefing on the situation on Friday. “We are facing the worst locust infestation in more than two decades and have decided to declare a national emergency to face the threat,” Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Saturday. Desert lobsters, large herbivores that resemble grasshoppers, arrived in Pakistan. They came from Iran in June and have already devastated cotton, wheat, corn and other crops.
Favorable weather conditions and late govt response added to the crisis.
Favorable weather conditions and a late government response have helped lobsters reproduce and attack crop areas. Its potential for large-scale destruction is increasing fears of food insecurity. National Food Security Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar said that locust swarms are currently on the border between Pakistan and India. They are around Cholistan and previously in Sindh and Baluchistan, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported. “The lobster attack is unprecedented and alarming,” Bakhtiar told Pakistani lawmakers in an information session on Friday.
“Measures were taken against the insect on more than 0.3 million acres (121,400 hectares) and aerial spraying was carried out on 20,000 hectares,” said the Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune. “District administrations, voluntary organizations, the aviation division and the armed forces are put into operation to combat the attack and save the crops,” he added.
PM Imran Khan adresses the nation about Locust swarms.
Prime Minister Imran Khan pledged to address the problem. He added that the protection of agriculture and farmers was the government’s priority. “The federal government will take all possible measures and provide the necessary facilities to protect crops from any possible danger with a special focus on locust danger,” Khan said, according to Dawn. The last time Pakistan saw a serious locust threat was in 1993.
Locust swarm attack in gujarat.
Currently, locust swarms attack is also affecting neighboring Gujarat India and the countries of East Africa.