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Turkey’s state aid agency on Thursday donated new technology to Pakistan to combat locust attacks in the country.
Officials from Turkey’s Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) delivered the vehicle-mounted and human-mounted ULV machines together with the pesticides to the Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
The award ceremony was also attended by the Federal Minister of Research and Food Safety, Fakhar Imam, the Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan, Mustafa Yurdakul, and the director of TIKA in the capital, Islamabad, Gokhan Umut.
On the occasion, Imam thanked the government and people of Turkey for their generosity.
“The government is working to modernize the agricultural sector in the country and these machines will improve agricultural technology,” he said.
In a tweet, Yurdakul said: “Happy to be a part of Pakistan’s efforts to combat locust swarms.”
Last year, locust swarms invaded agricultural fields in more than 60 districts of Pakistan.
These insects, which originate primarily in deserts, eat bark to seeds and flowers while traveling up to 150 kilometers (93 miles) per day.
Last May, the region saw the first wave of locust invasion since 1993.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 38% of Pakistan’s agricultural fields are breeding grounds for insects.
