DUSHANBE, May 29, Asia-Plus — Swarms of locusts have infested hundreds of hectares of farmland in northern and southern region of Tajikistan.
Habibullo Tohirov, the head of the department for protection of plants and chemicalization of agriculture, says that they have to date studied 59,000 hectares of the planned 180,000 hectares of farmland across the country.
“The monitoring results have shown that 36,600 hectares have been damaged by locusts,” Mr. Tohirov said, noting that mechanical and chemical methods have been adopted in the country to deal with the pests.
“In the Sughd province, 54,150 hectares have to date been chemically treated to curb the problem, in the districts subordinate to the center – 575 hectares, and in Khatlon – 775 hectares,” Habibullo Tohirov said.
The Asia-Plus interlocutor notes that shortage of pesticides has made the work on stopping locusts destroying crops difficult. At present, all districts affected by locusts are being provided with necessary pesticides and special equipment for treating farmland. A special team has been set up to determine nidus of outbreak of locusts in Tajikistan.
