The fight against desert locusts in Iran has intensified to cover more than 54,000 hectares across six southern provinces, according to the head of the Plant Protection Organization of Iran.
Swarms of the voracious pest were first spotted in Iran’s southern provinces this year on Feb. 19.
“Some 200 billion rials [$1.2 million] have been spent to combat the pest so far. We have requested an additional 650 billion rials [$4 million] from the Plan and Budget Organization, which will be sufficient to continue the fight until August,” Mohammad Reza Dargahi was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
The affected provinces so far include Hormozgan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Fars, Bushehr, Kerman and Khuzestan.
The official noted that the current year’s battle is three times as intense as last year.
Add new comment