As many as 25 postgraduate students of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) will be sent to different areas of the country to control locust and guide the farming community about combat strategy as it (locust) is putting a dent on agriculture productivity.

It was stated by National Food Security Secretary Omar Hamid Khan while addressing an inaugural session of training workshop to combat locust for internes jointly arranged by the Ministry and UAF at the Syndicate Room. Omar Hamid Khan said that the Ministry will send 10 UAF students to Baluchistan and the rest of them to Tharparkar and Cholistan under the Locust Combat Program. He said that a national locust control center had been set up in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority in order to eradicate the locust by mapping out a fruitful strategy. He was of the view that six aircrafts will be made a part of field work on the locust control . He said that the tangible measures were being taken to control the locust on the part of the government. He said that the collaboration of educational institutions will bring miracle change and help overcome the challenges facing the agriculture sector especially locust attack. He appreciated the measures taken on the part of the UAF for the locust control program. He said that the agriculture sector was contributing 19 percent to the Gross Domestic Product. The federal government is coordinating with the provinces to improve the agriculture situation and convert it as a profitable business. UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ashraf said that the university had set up a locust research cell under which work was being done carried out on war footing. He said locust had become the largest threat for food security. He said after 27 years, it had hit crops at the huge level. He said that in the near future, a fresh locust attack is likely in the country for which we have to take the measurer. He said that as compared to Pakistan, the vegetation in Iran and Afghanistan is low. He said that to meet its food, the locust moved to Pakistan. He said that UAF had kicked off a research work on locust life history, attacked areas, various stages with day, critical stage to hit for low pesticide, management techniques, potential threats, effect of climate changes, and mitigation strategies. He said locust has emerged the second largest threat for the country after Covid 19 and it may be termed as Covid 20 that is posing a serious threat to the food security. DG Plant Protection Falak Naz, UAF Registrar Umar Saeed, Chairman Entomology UAF Dr Masnsoor ul Hassan, Dr Jalal Arif, Dr Sohail, Dr Amir Rasul, Dr Sagheer, and Dr Shahid Majeed attended the meeting.