Pakistan goes to war with locusts; Imran Khan wants to 'catch them & sell as chicken feed'

Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, India and Pakistan are battling another crisis which is the worst locust attack the countries have faced in nearly three decades. According to Pakistan media reports, Imran Khan's government has endorsed a plan to help tackle the country's locust plague by encouraging people to catch the voracious pests and sell them as chicken feed.

'Out-of-the-box proposal'

A report in Dawn newspaper said PM Imran Khan while chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet on Tuesday, endorsed an "out-of-the-box proposal" for dealing with the locust threat in the country under which people would be given financial incentives for catching locusts and encouraged to sell these insects to poultry farmers who could use them as poultry feed at a rate of Rs15 per kilogram.

Pakistan is facing its worst locust infestation in a generation as marauding swarms have caused widespread damage in the Middle East, East Africa and South Asia. The United Nations has warned that fresh swarms are on their way from Iran or East Africa. Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz told Dawn that Khan “wanted to turn the crisis into an opportunity, therefore, he approved a plan of catching and selling locusts”.

The report also states that Khan was apprised that recently the plan of catching and selling locusts for Rs 15 per kg was implemented in Okara. According to PTV, locust swarms have attacked 31 districts in Baluchistan, 10 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four in Punjab and seven in Sindh.

READ | 'Pakistan remains an epicentre of global terrorism': India on explosive UN report

Meanwhile, Imran Khan has also asked Ministers Fakhar Imam, Hammad Azhar and Khusro Bakhtiar as to how the people would be given financial incentives for catching locusts. Poultry feed is normally made from mashed soya beans, but locusts provide a far higher level of protein.

READ | Buddhist carvings in PoK's Gilgit-Baltistan vandalised, Pakistan flag, slogans painted

In India, the Central government has devised a plan to use drones and specialised imported machines against locusts which have started damaging crops in some states, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Tuesday.

READ | Pakistani terrorist Ismail who fabricated 2019 Pulwama attack IED killed by forces

He said the government is hopeful of completely repulsing attacks by locusts by September-end. "A plan is put in place to use drones to fight off locusts which are damaging crops in some parts of the country," Tomar said, adding that pesticides will be sprayed using drones. "The Central and state governments have saved crops spread over an area of 57,000 hectares in the country from locusts," he added.

READ | Here are the 5 problems Pakistan should focus on instead of India

(With PTI inputs)