Five more Spraying Planes to Arrive in Ethiopia Next week

Addis Ababa October 11/2020 (ENA)As massive desert swarm locust tumble down on several parts of Ethiopia, additional five spraying planes will arrive in the country on Wednesday to intensify the fight against the increasing locust swarms.

Minister of Agriculture, Umer Hassen told the media today locust swarm has damaged more than 600 hectare of agricultural products from the 13.8 million hectare cultivated land in the rainy season.

According to him, the lush foliage due to the rainy season have created a favorable condition to the locust swarm and the swarm that enters to Ethiopia through Yemen and Somali Land is a threat for the effort to control the situation.

He also indicated that shortage of spraying planes makes impeding the fight against the swarms as two planes went down while spraying pesticides on lands affected by the disaster.

Thus, he said the ongoing swarm controlling work is being carried out by the remaining five spraying planes, vehicles and manpower.

“There is no shortage of chemicals, clothing and other materials for spraying,” he said adding that repairing and replacing planes is undergoing.

The Minister said that the country is working to get support through IGAD from the East African Locust Control Centre, World Food Program (WFP) and various international organizations.