Agriculture ministers  of Pakistan, India, Iran and Afghanistan will connect via video-conferencing on March 11 to chalk out a strategy to deal with the worst locust invasion to hit the region in nearly three decades as swarms of the insects were decimating entire harvests in these countries.

Representatives of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will also participate in the meeting via a video link from Abu Dhabi, The Express Tribune said in a report.

It is feared that recent rains in different parts of Pakistan and other countries in the region would further exacerbate the problem.

The UN has attributed the explosive growth of locust populations to heavy rains and cyclones in the Arabian Peninsula last year. The locust reached Pakistan from East Africa through the desert on the country's southwestern border with Iran last year, The Express Tribune said in the report.

Since then the farmers are struggling to combat the worst locust plague in nearly three decades. The crisis is so severe that the government has declared a nationwide emergency and urgently appealed for help from the international community.