Even as Pakistan deals with the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, it is afflicted with yet another plague of biblical proportions that has taken a back seat to COVID-19 outbreak. Swarms of locusts that invaded Pakistan’s agricultural heartland forced the federal government to declare a national emergency, and appeal to international community for assistance in dealing with this menace in February.[1] New swarms are reported to be breeding and forming groups in KPK, Balochistan, and Sindh.[2]
Insect swarms had made their way to Pakistan from Iran, the south-western neighbor. According to the United Nations, cyclones and heavy rains sparked extraordinary breeding and exponential growth of the locust on the Arabian Peninsula during 2018-19.[3] And, from there, it spread to Horn of Africa and Indo-Pakistan border region.
