DUSHANBE. May 26. “Asia-Plus” — Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to jointly combat locust in boundary regions.
Related agreement was signed by Tajik and Uzbek agriculture officials during their working meeting in Uzbekistan’s Surhandarya district on May 20-23, a spokesperson for Tajik Ministry of Agriculture Narzullo Dadabaev told the AP.
According to Dadabaev, Tajik delegation headed by the director of “Combat against locust” state enterprise Kiemiddin Ganiev visited this region with the purpose to evaluate current situation which occurred in Uzbekistan as a result of locust invasion.
“The sides have agreed that the sides should undertake joint and timely efforts to fight this disaster,” Dadabaev has said. “The sides have also expressed the need to support each other in terms of provision of related equipment and pesticides and agreed to simplify border crossing procedures during processing of locust-affected areas.”
The government of Uzbekistan notified the government of Tajikistan about Uzbekistan’s readiness to provide comprehensive support in this direction in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement on mutual trips of citizens.
“According to experts, intensive migration of Moroccan locust is observed in a series of transboundary regions in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan,” he commented. “Tajik Minister of Agriculture Kosym Kosymov urged his Uzbek colleague Zafar Ruziev to conduct joint monitoring of this process at the level of related ministries and experts.”
According to Tajik Ministry of Agriculture, a total of 65.000 ha were affected by locust in Tajikistan. More than 50.000 ha have been already treated with anti-locust pesticides.
The area of the Moroccan Locust is extended from Atlantic islands (Canaries, Madeira) in the west to Southeast Kazakhstan and Afghanistan in the east. In North Africa the species occurs in Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Libya, and Egypt, and the latitude 28 N is the southern border of its distribution. The Locust lives in Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy, and in countries of the Balkan peninsula. The species is found in countries of the Middle East and Minor Asia and in Afghanistan. The Locust occurs in the European part of CIS countries, i.e., in the southwest of Ukraine, in Moldova, Crimea, Northern Caucasus, and Transcaucasia, with the latitude 46 N in the Caucasus and the latitude 49 N in the Carpathian region being the northern border of its distribution. In the Asian part this species is found in countries of Central Asia and in the south of Kazakhstan, where there is an extreme north-eastern point of its area.
