A team of experts from China is set to visit Pakistan to deliberate on the aerial management of locust swarms in the country. A senior official of the food security ministry told Dawn that the Chinese technical experts’ delegation will arrive in Islamabad on Sunday to start the evaluation of the locust situation. Besides discussions with the ministry officials and Pakistani experts, the Chinese team will also visit locust affected areas in the provinces.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing assured of full support and to consider the supply of pesticides and spraying equipment to Pakistan as an emergency project.

The locust swarm invaded the country last year and has devastated the cotton crop in the last planting season and is already threatening the country’s wheat crop, Dawn reported.

The swarm arrived last summer but has grown to threatening proportions since November 2019 when the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) issued a warning that the swarm has started to leave its reproducing grounds in the deserts from Cholistan to Tharparkar.