Northern provinces assess efforts to control locust outbreak
Five northern provinces recently reported on their efforts to prevent and control locust outbreaks in the 2015-16 fiscal year, and announced plans to prevent a further invasion this year. The five provinces are Huaphan, Luang Prabang, Xieng Khuang, Oudomxay and Phongsaly. More than 4,000 hectares in 23 districts of the provinces were invaded by locusts, with Huaphan province being the worst affected. According to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry at its annual meeting in Vientiane at the end of last year, the authorities encouraged local people to search for and destroy locust eggs, and allocated 3.5 billion kip to combat the pests in 2016. The authorities will again pursue locust prevention and control activities this year.
