Ministry of food security rejects Sindh's insinuations on locust swarms

ISLAMABAD: Ministry for National Food Security on Sunday categorically rejected the statement given prior by Sindh government in relation to locust swarms, ARY News reported.

The ministry spokesperson said that locust swarms have taken over, attacked and destroyed crops in various parts of the country.

It was also said that the federal government along with the ministry for food security is cognizant of their duties and obligations and is playing their part to the best of their abilities.

The spokesman also said that the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has called three meetings on the matter knowing the gravity of the situation, the locust swarms endanger crops in 60 countries across the globe and Pakistan’s province of Sindh was in no way being singled out.

The prime minister formulated a National Action Plan (NAP) to deal with the menace with consensus and input from all provincial stakeholders, entailed the spokesperson.

“More than 100,000 litres of ULV insecticides and pesticides have been stored in Sindh to tackle the issue at hand, various districts of the provinces have also been designated their separates ECs.”

“A further order of 87 ULV sprays has been given for purchase with the help of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA),” added the spokesperson.

The authorities also said that due to the coronavirus situation prevalent in the country, their was a unintentional delay in the purchase and delivery of insecticides and pesticides to the province.