Activities to treat land against locusts have now been completed on an area of 2.8 million hectares, which is 110% of the predicted volume. Treatment against the Italian locust continues in the Akmola, Aktobe and Kostanay regions, the press service of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan reported.
In total, 15.8 million hectares were surveyed in the regions, which is 92.4% of the plan. Work has been fully completed in 13 regions.
At a meeting of the central headquarters to combat the spread of locusts, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin, the situation regarding the fight against the pest was reviewed. According to Vice Minister of Agriculture Ermek Kenzhekhanuly, special attention is paid to border areas.
“On July 18-20, there were cases of Italian locusts flying from the Orenburg region to the Aitekebiysky district of Aktobe region. We promptly carried out the processing, and are now negotiating with the Russian side for a joint survey of the border area,” the vice minister said.
To combat locusts, a reserve volume of preparations was transferred to the Aktobe region for treatment on an area of 136 thousand hectares. Preparations were purchased for 400 thousand hectares, half of which have already been transferred to the Kostanay region.
During a visit to the Aktobe region, Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin was informed that some farms had cultivated part of the Russian territory 100 meters deep to protect their crops. This week, the Deputy Prime Minister will discuss the issue of joint operational cultivation of land with the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.
Also, the Ministry of Agriculture, together with the akimats of Aktobe, Akmola and Kostanay regions, will continue to promptly take measures when identifying foci of locust spread.