In the region of Pipli Pahar (East), the clash of metal utensils breaks the serenity of the wheat fields. At the origin of the tintamarre, peasants are trying to scare the locusts, which has been the worst invasion in Pakistan for almost thirty years. Every day, at sunrise, clouds of pesticides obscure the air. The villagers then pick up shovels of dead insects, which they give to officials for a reward of 20 Pakistani rupees (12 euro cents) per kilo.
"I have not seen such an invasion in my entire career," said Shehbaz Akhtar, an official responsible for locust eradication in the Punjab province, Pakistan's grain store. According to the UN, heavy rains and cyclones have triggered an "unprecedented" increase in locust populations last year in the Arabian Peninsula. The swarms then left the Baluchistan desert (southwest), near the Iranian border, where they usually breed, to land on Punjab and Sindh (South).
20% of GDP at stake
The locusts had already caused heavy damage in north-west India, neighboring Pakistan, in recent months. A year of extreme weather conditions also saw them devastate a dozen East African countries this year. In Pakistan, there is no official data on how much land has been affected or how much it threatens food security or even the economy of the country, whose agriculture weighs 20% of the GDP.
Authorities, who say they are conducting local investigations, many of which are still underway, have declared a national emergency. A "combat operation" has been launched to "defeat" the locusts, says Shehbaz Akhtar. "We spray twice a day here," agrees Fayyaz Azeem, perched on a tractor, with a mask on his face and gloved hands, to spread pesticides, once at dawn and again at night. But the method is slow, faced with swarms that can travel 150 km daily. The chemicals are also so strong that they make the grain unreadable afterwards.
The threat had been forgotten
A disaster when "our livelihoods depend on the crops," said Muhammad Ismaeel Wattoo, a farmer affected by the plague in Pipli Pahar. In Sindh province, officials fear the impact of locusts on cotton production, which peaks during the summer. According to the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, around 40% of all crops have been destroyed "in and around Karachi".
Zafar Hayyat, president of the Pakistan Farmers' Bureau, blames the authorities. The last invasion of this magnitude dates from so long ago that "the government was no longer vigilant", he regrets. The authorities must also remain on the alert because "after the breeding season, there is a risk that the swarms return in June," he warns.
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