FAO representative in Pakistan Ms. Mina Dowlatchahi called on Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar in Islamabad today.
Federal Minister urged for concrete technical advice of FAO regarding recent locust phenomena in Punjab as the province is highly stressed with reported locust attack on gram crop, guidance on international best practices and use of pesticides with safety standards.
Mr. Khusro Bakhtiar also showed concern over the use of chemical pesticides and asked for recommended chemical and bio-pesticides with minimal impact on environment. The FAO representative said we have our technical experts in FAO’s head quarter who can share their expertise with the government of Pakistan in this regard.
The Federal Minister stressed on urgent supply of e-locust devices for effective surveillance of the locust in affected areas. The FAO representative affirmed to provide locust devices which require GPS facility in affected areas, she added. Federal Minister also said that supply of correct Pesticides is extremely important and we don't want to end up with the procurement of wrong pesticides.
Ms. Mina said that FAO as a neutral coordinator is going to arrange a coordination meeting of locust affected countries in the region including Pakistan, India, Iran and Afghanistan earlier next month in Abu Dhabi. Minister appreciated the efforts of FAO and stressed for developing a common work plan for controlling the locust without any time lag.
Meeting ended on a positive note while the two sides agreed to continue their joint efforts for cooperation in the area of controlling locust in Pakistan.
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