The webinar on locust arranged by Department of Entomology, UAF that was presided over by UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ashraf. Addressing on the occasion, Dr Muhammad Ashraf said that UAF locust research was working day and night and hoped that it would come with tangible results. He stressed upon the need to enhance funding on commissioned research that will pave the way to fight the challenges in the agriculture sector. He was of the view that excessive usage of pesticides was damaging the agriculture sector. He said that bio pesticides would help boost up productivity. He said locust had become the largest threat for food security. He said after 27 years, it had hit crops at a huge level. He said that the vegetation productivity in Iran and Afghanistan is low as compared to Pakistan. Therefore, the locust moved to Pakistan to meet its food. He said that the UAF had developed solar locust noise repellent, and locust sprayer machine that were the effective tools to fight with the locust issue. Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) Chairman Dr Muhammad Azeem said there is need to eradicate locust at the initial three stages of its life before becoming adult. He asked the farming community to help out the institutions to identify the locust breeding spots so that proper measures could be taken. He said that climate changes had played a role to move the locust from desert places to the agricultural areas. He appreciated the role of UAF on locust control program. DG Extension Punjab Anjum Ali Bhutter said that in the spring invasion, the locust attacked the 10 districts in which surveillance was done at 3,463,551 hectres and area of 93,774 hecters of area was treated. Prof Zhang Long from China Agriculture University said that locust plagues will last longer. He added that the climates changes were suitable for the locust outbreak. He said that China will continue to support Pakistan in locust plague management. Australian Expert David M Hunter talking about preventive management strategy said that it is meant to minimize the economic loss by treating as many as locust as possible before they reach the very damaging adult stage. He suggested to use both chemical and bio-chemical pesticide to minimize the risk to the natural environment and human health. Keith Cressman from FAO Rome said that locust is a serious problem for the agriculture sector. He said that it covers a distance of 150 km per day. He said that locust is found where rain has fallen and vegetation is green. Dr Mubarak Ahmad from FAO Islamabad said that historically, swarms of desert locusts had always been a threat to agricultural production and food security in Africa, Middle East, and Asia. It is an occasional pest, having two to three generations per year, with a life cycle of 12 weeks. They eat up to their own weight daily. Swarms of locust may travel nearly 2,000 kilometers in their lifetime to find a favorable environment for breeding. Dr Falak Naz DG Plant Production Karachi said efforts were being carried out to explore multiple avenues to control locusts and engage communities giving incentives. Chairman Entomology Dr Sohail Ahmad said UAF had kicked off a research work on locust life history, attacked areas, various stages with day, critical stage to hit for low pesticide, management techniques, potential threats, effect of climate changes, and mitigation strategies. Dr Mansoor Sahi said the locust had emerged the biggest threat for the agriculture sector. He said that agriculture was the backbone of the economy that was contributing 19 percent to the Gross Domestic Product. Dr Waseem Akram, Dr Amir Rasul, Dr Sagheer, Dr Shahid Majeed, and other notables also spoke on the occasion .