China all ready to help Pakistan fight locusts

BEIJING, March 14 (APP):A Chinese expert, Zhang Long, a professor from China Agricultural University has shared his experience for desert locust control in Pakistan on a webinar jointly held by China and Pakistan.

The webinar was arranged by relevant departments of China and Pakistan, including the National Agro-tech Extension and Service Center affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing, the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, and Pakistani Ministry of National Food Security & Research.

At the seminar, Zhang Long, said China and Pakistan are iron brothers, and China would like to help Pakistan deal with the desert locust plague.

Zhang is one of the expert team members who traveled to Pakistan to help the desert locust control in February 2020. As Zhang along with the other experts made a field trip across Pakistan, he made different suggestions for desert locust control according to different situations, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Sunday.

Zhang pointed out that Punjab province was facing the most emergent situation. As the nymphs will hatch in the next two weeks, some action must be taken immediately, including digging out eggs and spraying chemicals.

Besides specific measures, Zhang also advised Pakistanis to establish a sustainable, high-efficient and long-term management system for the desert locust control. In this system, biological and ecological controls are the main methods. Zhang thought that monitoring and forecast of the locust should be more precise and efficient.

Zhang also stressed that Pakistan should strengthen scientific research in locust biology, ecology and physiology to tackle threats of locust plague. He also advised to train more people for the locust control.