Lahore, 25th May: Farmers across Pakistan are suffering the worst plague of locusts in recent history, which has caused billions of dollars in damage and led to fears of long-term food shortages. The Pakistani government declared a national emergency this year after the locusts began to decimate winter crops. The first swarm came from the United Arab Emirates in mid-2019, and in the next few weeks time, a new infestation is expected to arrive from Iran. A farmer in Balochistan reports that this is the worst ever situation they had seen. According to him, “I cultivated around 50 acres of cotton crops and all of them have been eaten and destroyed by locusts,” besides cotton, my other crops – onion, chili, and tomato – have been affected badly too. It is a loss of around 10m rupees [£51,000]. As a farmer, it will take years to recover from this loss.” He said he had no means of dealing with locusts and that the government was in “deep slumber” about farmers’ plight. “The government is not doing anything. It’s a helpless situation,” he said. Government prepares to tackle locust crisis amid COVID-19 outbreak It is reported that in Sindh, the worst-hit … Continue reading Locusts, devouring the crops and livelihood in Pakistan