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KABUL: Farmers in northern Afghanistan have sustained big losses swarms of locusts have invaded thousands of acres of agricultural lands, UN food agency said Sunday.
The locust outbreak has continued to threaten agricultural harvests in northern provinces as farmers can’t access the means to fight back.
The invasion of locusts has caused more than 6,000 hectares of agricultural land to be destroyed in some northern provinces, said the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
“The Moroccan locust is regarded as the world’s most economically impactful plant pest, it eats more than 150 plant pests and more than 50 food crops,” said Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative in Afghanistan.
According to the FAO representative, considering the current situation it’s necessary to help farmers immediately.
He called for pre-position to ensure households who could lose everything can receive the food assistance they may need. Most of the agriculture support, and emergency assistance, they may need … it’s another thing about the Moroccan locust, it can multiply year to year one hundred times. We need to make sure that next year we don’t see a far worse outbreak.”
Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Sur e Pul, Samangan, and Takhar are provinces facing huge losses due to locusts.
