DUSHANBE, July 2, 2012, Asia-Plus — Tajik farmers are continuing to take efforts to combat locust infestations, an official source at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) said.
According to him, locusts have been revealed in the area of 136,600 hectares by early July, which is 74,200 hectares fewer than last year.
“All necessary equipment is being used to combat the insects,” said the source. “More than 65,800 hectares of locust-effected areas have been treated with insecticides by June 30.”
According to data from a MoA, the most hit area was the southern Khatlon province, where locusts have reportedly damaged more than 84,000 hectares.
Locust infestations have also been reported in Sughd province (more than 40,000 ha), districts subordinate to the center (12,500 ha) and Gorno Badakhshan (200 ha).
We will recall that the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provided assistance to the state unitary enterprise, Locust Control, in February this year. The assistance has been provided in the framework of the FAO regional project, Combating Locusts in the Caucasus and Central Asia in 2012.
An Emergency Coordination Unit (ECU) was established by FAO in Tajikistan in 1996, initially to work on emergency locust control projects. Since then, the emergency program has expanded steadily and has set-up veterinary field units, improved agricultural infrastructure and strengthened domestic seed production.
