National Emergency Declared in Pakistan to fight against Locusts in the border

Pakistan which is facing the worst locust attacks in decades has declared National Emergency. The emergency was declared to tackle the insects that are destroying crops in Punjab province, the main region of agricultural production.

Highlights

The locusts are currently in the India-Pakistan border along Cholistan. Usually, these Locusts move to Iran after some time. However, this time due to low temperatures they are still in Pakistan.

Locusts in India

By the end of January 2020, the Indian border of Gujarat and Rajasthan were attacked by desert locusts from Pakistan and Iran. They mainly attacked the oil seed producing regions. It included rapeseed and cumin seed plants in Gujarat in around 17,000 hectares and 360,000 hectares of land in Rajasthan.

The smallest swarm of locusts eats as much as a day’s food of 35,000 people. They travel 150 km in a day.

A similar locust crisis was last reported in 2007 when the heavy rains were in favourable breeding conditions for the insects.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2020