China and Pakistan share locust control measures online

By Think Real - On 20 May 2020, the “China-Pakistan Trade Hotline - Joint Locust Control - Cloud Salon”, which was hosted by the China Economic Net and co-organized by The Express Tribune of Pakistan, was held. The Chinese plant protection experts introduced and displayed the use of plant protection UAV (= unmanned aerial vehicle) and the usage of locust purpose pesticides, along with related tips for attention, by live video.

Currently, Pakistan is stricken by locust seriously. The loss caused by locust to the local agriculture in Pakistan would reach USD2.2 billion, estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

In order to help Pakistan to well prevent and control locust, China donated 300 tonnes of pesticides and 50 vehicle-mounted sprayers to Pakistan by 3 batches from March to April 2020. In the context that a new generation desert locust hit the country, Pakistan sent a demand for 175 tonnes of malathion and 50 tonnes of lambda-cyhalothrin to China on 29 April.

“In Pakistan, the common and effective pesticides used for locust control are cyhalothrin, malathion, deltamethrin, chlorpyrifos, etc.,” said Muhammad Ijaz, Manager of the Research & Development Department of Agrow Limited, which is a pesticide distribution company, “We hope to continue joining hands with big companies in China to carry out joint development.”

Wang Xuan, Business Development Director of Dajiang Innovations Science and Technology Co., Ltd., which is a leading UAV company in China, said the following, “Our company is now trying to establish cooperation with the institutions in Pakistan. We hope to launch plant protection UAV onto the local market as soon as possible, so that we can help control the local locust plague. Compared to the terrain machinery, the UAV could work on different terrains and could offer convenience for spraying. In the meantime, the UAV could carry multiple navigation systems and locator devices. It is of high precision and strong stability.”