ISLAMABAD, Aug. 3 (INP): Hundreds of thousands of farmers across Pakistan have appreciated the Chinese government for providing a dozen of agricultural drones to Pakistan to fight the locust, Gwadar Pro reported on Monday. The drones were donated by the Chinese ministry of agriculture to the Ministry of National Food Security at the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing. China will provide as many as 38 more drones to Pakistan in a few months, said Pakistani officials.  

Although Pakistan is yet to deploy these drones to stop desert locusts, a wave of joy has been felt among Pakistani farmers.

“It is indeed a piece of great news. China has provided drones to fight locust. It means we will be able to save our crops from locust soon,” Ajmal Bhutta, a noted agriculturist based in Multan said over telephone. Earlier in June, a leading Chinese company expressed willingness to set up an industrial unit in Pakistan to manufacture drones that can be used to protect crops and control locust.

“From factory construction, production, assembly, after-sales to personnel training, we can provide a full set of technical support to help Pakistan develop the drone manufacturing industry to quickly respond to various types of disasters,” Du Jixiang, Chief Engineer, Beijing Andun Equipment Co. Ltd told Gwadar Pro.

The government is negotiating with a mission of the Chinese aviation industry for the supply of aircraft to carry out aerial spray in the locust-affected areas.

An official of Pakistan’s Ministry of National Food Security and Research said that Pakistan wanted to lease six aircrafts from Chinese Ministry of Civil Aviation to conduct aerial spray into locust affected areas.

Desert locust is an international trans-boundary concern with major economic, social and environmental implications. As per estimate of officials of department of agriculture of Pakistan’s provinces of Sindh and Balochistan, the locust attack has damaged crops cultivated on 80,000 hectares of land besides causing serious damage to grazing fields and forest areas.

In February this year, Pakistan declared national emergency to eliminate the attacking swarms of desert locust. This year, locust’s attack is unimaginable, according to Pakistani authorities.

 “The farmers are very worried as they have seen their crops being destroyed in front of their eyes. These farmers should be compensated,” said Zahid Bhurguri, general secretary of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture.

“Almost all crops and non-crop plants are vulnerable and the insects are one of the biggest threats to food security,” he added. INP/JAVED