DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania has hired a spray plane from the Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa, a regional pest and vector management organization, in readiness to fight off the invasion of desert locusts, a senior official said on Thursday.
"The government has taken all precautionary measures against the locusts that have already destroyed tens of hundreds of farm crops in Kenya," Japhet Hasunga, the Minister for Agriculture, told a news conference in the capital Dodoma.
He said the plane was on readiness to spray pesticides on the destructive locusts, appealing to the public to immediately report to authorities any signs of the locusts.
Hasunga said Katavi and Kigoma regions had signs of breeding grounds for the locusts.
On Jan 30, Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said the east African nation has taken several measures to fight off invasion of the desert locusts from neighboring countries.
"Authorities have already contacted their counterparts in Kenya to see how the country can fight off the invasion of the locusts that feed on food crops and vegetation," Majaliwa told the National Assembly in Dodoma. Enditem
