UAF Dispatches 25 Interns To Cholistan, Thar To Control Locust

The University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) has dispatched a team of 25 trained interns to Cholistan and Thar to control locust and surveillance of the regions

FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jul, 2020 ) :The University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) has dispatched a team of 25 trained interns to Cholistan and Thar to control locust and surveillance of the regions.

The interns joined the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Federal Plant Protection Department to work on locust control under the supervision of the department.

In a message here Thursday, UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ashraf congratulated the Department of Entomology, UAF, for training interns to overcome the issue. He said that 38 per cent of the area in the country is breeding grounds for the desert locust, whereas the entire country is under the threat of invasion if the desert locust is not contained in the breeding regions.

He lauded the measures taken by the government for establishing a National Locust Control Centre to combat the threat, which had destroyed agriculture on a vast tract in 60 out of 135 districts.

He added that the UAF had established a Locust Research and Development Cell meant to strengthen research, development and outreach activities, and coordinate with national and regional locust control organisations. It is working day and night to devise preventive and curative locust control strategies.

The cell research areas include locust biology, ecology, behaviour, toxicology, pesticide resistance management, and development and evaluation of phytochemical-based biopesticides in integration with other biological control approaches for eco-friendly sustainable management.

In addition to developing biopesticides, the UAF has already developed a three-in-one spray machine tested by farmers of the locust-hit areas.