DUSHANBE, July 2, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) intends to develop two five-year national locust combating programs.

The source at a MoA says they will be first national programs in this direction.

According to him, the republican commission for combating locusts have revealed shortcomings in work of district administration on combating these pests.  “Because of late response to locust infestations in the districts of Vakhsh, Qumsangir, and Panj in Khatlon province, locusts have affected 8,000 hectares of farmland in some areas,” he said.

According to the statistics from the MoA, some 99,000 hectares of farmland in the country have been affected by locusts to this day, which is 6,300 hectares more than last year.  To-date, some 76,000 hectares of these lands been treated by pesticides.