ISLAMABAD, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Ministry of National Food Security and Research said Thursday that anti-locust spraying operations have been carried out on around 1.1 million hectares of land across the country over the last six months to eradicate the pests and save agriculture land from their harmful impacts.
The National Locust Control Center of Pakistan surveyed around 185,839 hectares of land during the past 24 hours, said a statement released by the ministry, adding that during the survey, no locust was found in eastern Punjab and northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
However, one district each of the country's southern Sindh and southwest Balochistan provinces witnessed the presence of locusts, said the statement.
According to the ministry, local locust control teams have sprayed 40 hectares of land in Tharparkar district of Sindh province and 280 hectares of land in Lasbela district of Balochistan province.
Earlier in August, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations lauded Pakistan's all-out efforts to control the migration of desert locusts to summer breeding areas of the country.
The organization said in its report that an increase in the number of locusts in Pakistan was feared during August with more hatching and band formation which may lead to a second generation of egg-laying from early September onwards, but the timely action taken by the Pakistani government has helped in controlling the further migration of the pests to other areas. Enditem
