DUSHANBE, March 17, Asia-Plus  -- Members of a special locust control commission at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) visited several Khatlon districts bordering on Afghanistan at the end of last week to closely monitor the current locust situation there.   

The source at a MoA said that according to the Deputy Agriculture Minister Shukrullo Rahimnazarov, the situation in some border areas evokes serious concern.  

The monitoring results have shown that even this year’s unusually cold weather did not kill overwintering eggs of the migratory locusts.  

We will recall that last locust infestation in Tajikistan was last year.  In few weeks of April and May, locust invasions destroyed crops and cotton plantations over an area of almost 45,000 hectares.  The most affected area was the Khatlon province, where some 23,350 hectares were invaded by locusts.